The Real World
by 100-YardStare
Summary: Technology has reached a new level when a club of programers find a way to travel to the world of games. Kailey, sister of one of the programers, is sent into the game world and has become the first human to do so. However, what comes in can also get out, and this becomes a perfect opportunity for a certain racer who seeks the spotlight and control of mankind.
1. Chapter 1

Every now and again the silence of the office would be overtaken by ringing phones. The casual yet seemliness intimidating sound of my coworker's voice would answer after three rings, but as soon as the conversation ended with a client the room fell back into a deep and utterly deprived silence. When work was slow, it could be like this for hours without anything to do. To waste time I'd just sit there and watch the computer scan, or play with my phone, but completely trying to escape the madness of isolation was inevitable. I was just like everyone else. I lived the daily routine of waking up at 6:30 AM on the dot, and fought my way through traffic to end up at a job that left me more empty than it gave me a sense of accomplishment. What little work I did have was typing up projects onto the computer for the engineers, but the process was incredibly repetitive and I found myself daydreaming all the time. I started shutting myself off from the world, only answering to people who spoke to me. Although outwardly I think of myself as just an Intern, a college student and a typical twenty two year old whose only intention in life was to hook a decent job, make good money and live the American Dream, inwardly I was quite the opposite. When I retreated into my fantasies I could be whatever I wanted. A traveler, a Jedi Knight, a Pokemon Trainer, and whatever else my mind threw at me at my moments of boredom. I found myself expressing these things on paper, whether it be in the form of poetry or stories. However, no matter how long I stayed, no matter how long I held onto those last few moments of midnight dreaming the dawn always came. See, the thing about imagination is that you have to leave it; you can't stay forever. After that it was back to studies, work and whatever obligation I had now that I was considered an 'adult'. That's the real world for you, I guess.

An hour and a half of this mindlessness whizzed by without my knowing when my own phone began to ring. Looking down, as if desperate to find something to put my mind on, I quickly noticed that it was my younger brother on incoming. It struck me odd that he'd be calling me in the middle of the day like this. In comparison to myself, he had far more friends and interests, and had even proven to be far more involved than I ever was. Last I heard he had joined some sort of robotics club; something about programming a robot to throw stuff. Although it had been a long time since I've last heard from him and the process of the club, I did hear that they had been exploring other forms of technology in their research.

"Hello?" I didn't even realize I had lifted the phone to my ear when I spoke. Being mindless all day can lead to consequences like that.

"Kailey, oh my God!" My brother called. By the high pitched sound of his voice I could tell he was exited. "You're not going to believe this! You need to meet me ASAP. You know how I joined that robotics club, right?"

"You mean the one that builds robots that throw crap?" I bluntly responded.

"Yeah! Well, since I last talked to you we haven't just been focusing on robots. We've actually built a way to place ourselves into a virtual reality!"

"Wait- slow down, you mean as in gaming wise?" I perked up immediately. I could imagine playing iconic games over again like Metroid and Mario Kart, only this time I was the one behind the helmet; I was the one driving the go-karts on Rainbow Road.

"You have no idea. We came across some old files from some guy in the 80's who came up with the concept. His name was Flynn or something. Anyway! We tried replicating it and now are in the process of testing it. I want you to be there."

"You want _me_ to be there?" I couldn't help but place a hand on my chest. I could feel the excitement growing, then suddenly just as it came I frowned. "Wait- am I really supposed to believe you were involved in recreating a serious leap in gaming technology? You're lying to me."

"Am not!" He cried, "I'm for real, just meet me at this location. I'll send you the address through text. The team rented out an arcade called Litwak's. The guy was nice enough to lend it to us after hours."

I found myself rolling my eyes. As breathtaking as it sounded I learned never to get my hopes up. "Whatever you say, bro." I responded, and then pulled the cell from my ear and stared down at it. The clock struck 2:00 PM.

* * *

Staring up at the flashy sign of the arcade I didn't even notice my brother's truck driving up beside me. Below on the dash the clock struck 4:00 PM. Although the drive had been a long one I didn't even remember getting here. My mind had been elsewhere again, dreaming and imagining what was to come. Virtual reality, at least in the terms my brother was considering, sounded so farfetched that I didn't even believe it was happening. I was so used to experiencing _normal_ things to understand or grasp a concept like this. It was one thing just to imagine something, but to feel it for yourself was on an incredibly different level. I tried tearing myself away from thinking about it and to at least get my feet out of the car. My brother was already at the side of my door by the time the car unlocked.

"Come, hurry! Follow me!" He rushed as he tried grabbing my arm.

"Get off of me, yo!" I cried out of irritability. "I'm still trying to get myself to accept what's going on. I mean- do you realize what kind of difference this is going to make? Not only are you bringing gaming to a whole new scale, but you're also going to change lives-!"

"No talk, follow now!" My brother interrupted me before I could continue my awe struck sentence. Because he was probably ten times stronger than me, my brother yanked my arm and I flew out of the car and to a standing position. "Ow!" I gasped aloud, but it didn't seem to matter. At that point all I had time for was to press the lock button on my keys and follow him.

Taking in my surroundings as I proceeded towards the building was all a blur due to the rush, but I could plainly see the sign on the arcades door. "And why are we here so early?" I thought you said we rented the arcade after it was closed?" I spat out as a way to attempt to get my brother to slow down.

"You need to see the place in action." My brother responded, "I wanted to check out and show you all the games. That way if there was something you wanted to play, I could put you in the game."

My brother proceeded to push the door open, and quickly the silent sound of the parking lot was filled with different kinds of sounds and voices from all kinds of genres of video games. As the colors of the screens brought a soft light to my body, I began to become nostalgic. I wasn't born in the 80s, a precious decade of big hair, rock and roll and arcade games like this, but I always imagined it was a good time to live. I asked my parents often how it was like, and usually they responded simply yet happily that they were "good times". Thinking about it now as I was basking in the moment, I hadn't even set foot in an arcade since my brother was only a kid in high school. That had to have been at least four or five years ago, but it still felt just as real and became even more real as I stood there.

"Games have come a long way in arcades." My brother said, "They have a cool new first person shooter called Hero's Duty now, but that's not all. Just the other day the guy that owns this place put Xbox 360's and PS3's in here. He got a good deal on the older systems or something, so now you can play arcade versions of pretty much anything."

"Well, come on! What else is there?" I exclaimed rather joyfully. I could feel the weight of work and any homework I needed to do slip off of my consciousness like snow melting off a hot rooftop. I was beginning to know why my brother had been so happy about this initially.

Scanning the arcade I tried to pinpoint interesting titles that I was familiar with. There were the classic games, like Pac Man and Frogger and some newer games that had made their appearance due to the updated software that had been added to the arcade itself, like Portal and Halo. However, there were also games that I had never heard of before. There was a racing title called Sugar Rush whose game play reminded me a lot of Mario Kart, and another called Fix-It Felix Jr. whose formula seemed familiar on its own. "This guy sure has a collection, doesn't he?" I mustered.

"Excuse me, can I help you two?" An older man approached us as he adjusted his glasses that set lightly on the top of his nose.

My brother was the first to turn towards him, extending a hand professionally as he introduced himself. "Hello! I'm Dannen, part of the robotics club that's renting out your arcade." My brother said, "And this is my sister, Kailey. She's here to check things out."

"Ah, it's nice to finally meet you in person! I'm Mr. Litwak, the owner of this place." Litwak exclaimed giddily, "Please feel free to look around at your leisure and play whatever you want. I'm very excited to hear how your testing goes tonight. Virtual reality will surely bring in more customers. Although I've kept this business up till now, kids don't seem to like arcades like they used too."

"I completely understand," My brother responded, "And thank you, we'll be sticking around for a while, and after the arcade closes we'll get to work."

"Terrific!" Mr. Litwak said, "Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you."

"Will do." My brother responded with a nod. Mr. Litwak smiled back and proceeded down the aisles of games.

After a few hours of playing around and getting to know the consoles, the arcade finally came to a close. The customers departed, but despite the lack of people the arcade felt just as alive as it did during the day. Lights continued to flicker, music continued to play and characters continued to do what they did. "All right, the place is all yours!" Mr. Litwak called, his voice quite strange in comparison to the games around us. "The keys are on the desk, so if you leave please lock up. I'll be back tomorrow."

"See you later, Mr. Litwak!" My brother responded, and with a chime of the door the old man disappeared into the parking lot. This was it. I took a look around at the walls and at the front desk just below the ceiling. The clock hanging had just turned 8:30 PM.

"Okay, follow me." My brother said, and began towards the back. I followed him to a black door at the far right-hand corner of the arcade. Upon arriving to it I watched him mess with the lock and then open it. It was dark until he switched on the lights, and that's when I could see a short staircase leading to some sort of basement. We walked down its steps and came to the bottom, and that's where I saw it. The machine was huge, and covered in controls. At its center was some sort of camera that reminded me of a wacky form of security interface.

"Okay, Kailey, I need you to stand right in front of the gun." My brother said as he scurried over to the controls, taking a seat before them as confident as a pilot at his plane deck.

I looked over at the camera that I had spotted initially, but this time a bit more nervous. "A gun? What the hell are you going to do, shoot me?" I said.

"Well I have to transfer you into the system." Dannen responded, as he clicked in a couple codes which caused the gun to move. "It won't hurt, I promise." A smile seemed to consume his expression as he said that, which didn't help.

I became flustered as I stomped a foot on the floor. "I thought you were going to put a helmet on my head or something! You didn't mention that you were literally going to _teleport_ me into the games! That's like- like Matrix shit right there."

"I told you this was amazing, at this point I'd thought you'd understand why I was so excited about all of this!" Dannen called, "I'm going to transfer your entire being into the system that connects you to all the games in the arcade. However, I don't know where the portal will open, so that's why I spent the last two and a half hours letting you get to know the games."

"The hell?" I shouted, "I'm not sure about this."

"Just do it!" Dannen yelled again. His excitement was getting the best of him. At that point I didn't know if I could back down. He had taken all the time to get me here, so refusing an offer like this would have been considered mad. After all, if I was going to be a part of this I was probably going to get some of the credit. Not just credit even, I would be the first person to ever enter a game physically. I could be in history books! Or heck, have schools named after me!

"Okay, fine." I sighed and walked over to the front of the gun. Its gaze stared down at me like an ever watchful eye. Among its obvious sight it locked onto me, this accompanied by the sound of the powerful grinding of the machine itself.

"Okay, in 3-2-1." Dannen's countdown was a little too quick for me, but before I knew it my world turned into a blinding white light. I felt myself lifted off the floor; weightless as each of my senses began to regain themselves. The warm room of the basement changed to that of an icy winter wind, and the light that had surrounded me left, forming into a wide and open sky filled with mountains at its base. I was in the middle of a field, surrounded by hills and rocks.

"Dannen?" I cried as I wrapped my arms around my chest. I shook uncontrollably due to the sudden climate change. Snow began to fall and settle on my brown hair, as another wave of cold air swept over my body. This place looked so utterly familiar, yet I couldn't quite put my tongue on it. "Dannen, where are you? Can you hear me?" I yelled again, but like before received no answer. This game world was very silent, yet tranquil, so every time I yelled I felt out of place. The idea of walking around came to mind, so I started moving my feet through the crusty and frosty grass. Every moment being in the game felt incredible. The scenery was breathtaking, and at certain moments, when the clouds parted just enough away from the game worlds sun, the mountains became different shades of blue, as the blinding rays of the star above and beyond the clouds made the snow glow with a pure white light. "This place…" I mustered again, "I _know _I've played this game before."

The serenity of the landscape, then, was broken. In the distance, but coming quickly like rolling thunder, I heard a strong roar. Its sound caused my eyes to widen, and I could feel the cold on my skin dissipate as my face grew hot with a fluster. My heart raced as the chills on my arms grew tighter. That roar had such a trademark sound to it that any gamer would recognize it. It was a dragon, and this was Skyrim.


	2. Chapter 2

Every heart wrenching moment I stood there like a deer caught in headlights, I was putting myself in even more danger. For some reason I couldn't find the strength to move my legs; I found quickly that I was shaking, and my veins began to fill with a cold adrenaline. The sound of the dragons procession among the skies grew even more thick and horrific, every now and again its wings creating a pound as it pushed the dragons massive form through the air. "Dannen, where are you! Can you hear me!" I cried again, this time as loud as I could. However, instead of getting any answers from my brother I gathered more of the dragon's attention instead. Even from afar I saw its eyes shift towards me. That was when I began to feel my muscles tighten in a sudden urge to run.

With a powerful gasp of its lungs the dragon roared again, causing me to finally break from my stationary position and run the opposite direction. I had no idea what I was doing; whenever I actually played Skyrim I'd at least have people around to help me, or even objects or other characters to loot off of. But this time, I was bare and I was scared. Despite that I ran as fast as I possibly could, it didn't seem like it was making much of a difference. The whoosh of the dragon's wings and its terrifying growls crept up closer by the second. Because of this, I couldn't help but let out a scream. Something about the beast gaining up on me caused every emotion I tried to hold back come pouring out of me like an overflowing barrel.

"Kailey! Kailey, where are you?" I heard my brother's voice frantically call out finally, but it was distant, almost unworldly. I jumped behind one of the large stones to escape from the dragons gaze and tried to regain myself. I knew that hiding wouldn't do any good for long, considering I probably had a horrible sneak level.

"Dannen! Where are you? Get me out of here!" I called again. My voice was cracking now, and my words came out rather quickly.

"Are you in _Skyrim_?" Dannen's voice called, but instead of just filled with distraught it was now filled with absolute fear. "What's happening?"

"I'm being chased by a dragon, you _dimwit_!" I cried again, putting emphasis on the insult, "This isn't just a game. This is real, way too real! I can't fight a _dragon_!"

"You have to find a way back to the portal!" Dannen's voice explained, "If you arrived in Skyrim that's where it is."

"_Stay in Skyrim_?" My eyes widened like a defiant child being forced to do homework, "Screw that, I'm running for my life!" With a quick burst I broke from my temporary hiding place and blasted off towards any direction that proved to have the least amount of obstacles that could ruin my chances of escape.

"If you don't have a sword, you have magicka at the start of the game!" My brother tried to remind me, but I didn't really care. How the hell was I supposed to know how to use magicka? When I played at home sitting on my damned couch all I had to do was press and hold down a single button. This wasn't the same.

The dragon, which I hadn't taken the time to look at for a number of moments, was still obviously on my tail. The moment I flew from my hiding position I could tell it was after me. Its roars projected with less amount of time in between, so now the fear factor had grown ten times full. My eyes scanned the world around me, desperately seeking for any sort of cave that I could rush into. It was after a few moments of running, when the trees in the west became thinner, that I noticed a large open doorway. I figured it must be the portal my brother was talking about, so I rushed towards it. However, as close as I was, it was too late. The dragon roared again, but this time it was louder than it was before. I turned my head around, and just a few yards away from me I could see it. It had come down from the sky and was about to claw me.

Raising my arms, as a pitiful way to protect myself, I braced for impact, tripping in the process backwards. Because of my fall, I was able to get away from the dragons claws just enough for the fatal blow, but instead my arms were torn to shreds. Although my body was filled with adrenaline I could still feel that pain consume my arms like a thousand bees piercing my flesh. Looking down, blood immediately began to flow from myself like a bunch of tiny rivers. I had to get up and get to that doorway.

The dragon continued flying, but it looked to be making a comeback as I saw it take a wide turn from the direction I was heading. It had gathered so much distance that it was close to the doorway, so I had to make it under the dragon and arrive to my rescue before it could to me. Without wasting time I sped up again, though realizing how tired I was getting. On top of loosing blood I had been running for a good long while, so the possibility of me even making it to the doorway seemed out of my chances. However, thinking like that wasn't going to make those odds any better. Breaking from any tears I felt weld up behind my eyelids, I managed to strive onward in a hard dash. The dragon quickly was making its turn and now was heading straight towards me. It was now or never though, and there was no turning back.

I closed my eyes, and let out a yell. I heard the swoosh of its wings again, and the gust of its power flinging my hair and clothing around. Though instead of another roar, I heard it speak this time. The dragon wasn't resorting to physical attacks anymore, it was about to use its Thum.

"_YO TOOR SHUL!"_ The dragon's voice was deep and mighty and its sound resembled thunder, or an avalanche. This in itself caused me to open my eyes. Looking upward, it was hovering just over me, with its mouth wide open. From the back of its throat I could see an ember spark, and suddenly a wave of fire twisted into my direction. I ducked and threw my body under it, escaping the direct flame, but feeling the burst of fire behind me. It was painful despite not hitting me directly, and it was even more so on the wounds on my arms. I didn't waste time, however, and dashed into the doorway. I continued running despite that I had made it, letting out a scream of relief. My eyes closed again, as I continued to holler, and just as abruptly as I flew in, I bumped into something. I tumbled backwards but was able to catch myself from falling. Peeking from under my eyelids, I looked up.

"Hey, sorry about that!" A extremely tall man, with huge hands greeted me. He seemed genuinely happy, which on my part was strange due to the situation I was just in, and expecting to see my brother.

Still panting and containing a twisted and confused expression, I stared up at him with my arms tucked and wrapped around each other. I could see his smile vanish once he noticed my arms, and how they were now dropping blood every now and again over the floor.

"Wait a second- are you _bleeding_?" The big guy exclaimed. His large hands tried reaching towards me, but he was reluctant due to the obviously urgent matter at hand. "This can't be for real, are you a human?"

Before I could even try and answer a sudden hologram of a police like character popped up beside me. In his hands he held a notepad and with the other a pin. Without looking up he stated, "Random Security Check! Where are you heading?"

I looked over at him but I couldn't manage to answer him either. My eyes were still wide open and with every fiber of my being I felt traumatized. It was a few seconds of silence between the three of us that the police officer finally looked up, but upon staring at me he gasped.

"Y-you're a _User_!" He cried a bit too loudly for my liking, which caused the entire place and all its characters to look over in my direction. Like a domino effect, each and every conversation stopped dead in its tracks, and it didn't take long for the entire room of game characters to surround me in an awe struck stare.

"Hey, everyone, nothing to see here!" The big guy broke the awkward silence as he waved his large hands in the air and then settled them down in front of me, as if shielding me from their constant stares. "Can't you see that she just came from Skyrim? I mean- just the thought of going into a game that scary would make me into a zombie, too. No offence to the actual Zombie, of course! Heh." After his short speech the big guy turned around to look at me and hunched a bit so he could be at eye level with me, "Hey, I know somebody that can fix those scratches right up. You should come with me."

I didn't bother responding verbally just yet. Instead I nodded my head in agreement and began following him through the utterly silent crowd of characters, through each step looking straight at every single one I could. They were all here; all the characters I saw in the arcade. This place must be where all the arcade games connected.

Once we made it from the large main area we came to another doorway, though this time above it I saw it was titled Fix-It Felix Jr. I recalled seeing the game during my time exploring the consoles, so I knew it couldn't be that bad. However, I recalled the similarities between the big guy that smashed stuff with the big guy that was helping me. "So, umm… my names Wreck-It Ralph, but you can just call me Ralph for short." The big guy finally spoke once we arrived to a small train ride. He crawled in and offered a seat in front of him. I looked at the seat, and then to him, clearly showing my worry on the matter. "Look, I know you probably know me as, well, a 'bad guy' but I'm not going to hurt you." Ralph explained sincerely, "Here in the arcade, 'bad guy' is just a term for most. I guess you could say were just all acting roles."

Ralph's kind domineer helped me loosen my nerves a bit. For once in a long while I fell into comfort, a relief if you will. "Wow." I let out at first, sighing a bit to show the stress lifting, "I still can't believe this is happening."

Ralph chuckled a bit, "Yeah, same here." He stated as he itched the back of his neck, "Us guys from the consoles see you humans all the time on the screen, but we never thought one of you would actually come into our world. So, tell me, do you have a name?"

"It's Kailey." I stated.

"Well, then, er… Kailey. I guess we should get going, hm? I don't think your first visit to our world would be a very good memory if you passed out from blood loss." He chuckled again, but this time nervously. I could tell he was trying to make light of the situation.

Steadily I crawled into the seat in front of him and tried to relax. The train started moving forward once I was settled, and it was only a matter of moments before we arrived. This time I was the one awe struck when I saw the screen to the real world. Despite that this game was pixilated on the outside; here it was just the opposite. It was amazing to see it from this perspective. It looked nothing like an old game, no, it was crystal clear and real just like the real world. I had no idea that the games we created were like this, not only living within them sentient characters that were well aware of _us_, but functioning and breathing worlds. As the train finished its venture into the Fix-It Felix game, I saw the details that made the game so iconic. I saw the penthouse that was the games main setting, but even more so, I saw things that I didn't notice just by looking at it from the screen. There were other buildings further down into the world, and to the other side was a large mound of bricks. I remained seated, staring up at this new world without realizing we had come to a stop.

"Hey- you coming?" Ralph spoke up, breaking me from my trance. I shook my head lightly and then took a stand, however, immediately being offered help from the cart. For a 'bad guy', Ralph was the most polite person I had ever met. "Don't push yourself too hard, I'll help you out." He said, simply extending his right hand for me to grab. Since I was looking at him again I took in other traits from the game world that I had not noticed before. According to the Fix-It Felix game guide I had checked out earlier that afternoon, Ralph was nine feet tall. Here, though he looked to be much smaller. If I had to make an educated guess he looked to be about three feet taller than me. Thinking about it the game world versus the real world may just as well have differences.

Once out and about, Ralph led me to the front of the main and centered building, where standing there among a small group of Nicelanders was Fix-It Felix himself. I could tell it was him quickly due to the way he looked. "Well, hello Ralph!" Felix greeted happily, though like Ralph had done to me, Felix's smile faded into worry once he saw me. "Jiminy Jaminy! Who is she? What happened?"

"You're not going to believe this, but she's a _User_. An actual human!" Ralph said, expressing a bit more excitement this time. "But you gotta help. She ended up in Skyrim and one of the dragons flying around got to her."

"Goodness!" Felix said, "I can try, but I've never tried fixing… well a human before." Felix proceeded to grab his trademark golden hammer and walk up towards me, however, I was reluctant. The idea of being hit with a hammer on an already painful spot was the last thing I wanted. The two could both see my dismay.

"It's okay, Kailey!" Ralph spoke up, "Felix fixes things, it's his thing."

I eyed him and then looked back down to the little guy. I realized that not taking this chance could lead to far worse things, so I kneeled down and stretched my arms out for Felix to take a look at. The wounds were bad, almost like I was attacked by two cats that decided to fight on me. But it was despite this horrific display in which Felix knocked both of my arms with the golden hammer, and in an instant the red and swollen scars vanished. I gasped with surprise as I lifted my arms to my face to get a better look. "I can't believe it worked!" I said, "It's gone, the pain is gone too, thank you!" The sheer fact that a game world character could cure me was in itself a marvel. What would the real world be like if there were people like Felix there? What my brother had done, sending me into the game world, was more than just changing the way we played video games. Indeed lives would be changed.

"You're welcome, Ma'm!" Felix responded giddily, "It was an honor of mine, after all!" His eyes seemed to dart away from me quickly though, likewise with Ralph. They were staring at the screen. Because of this I turned my attention there as well, and to my surprise my brother was waltzing around the arcade. His hands were rolled up in his hair as he seemed to pace, looking into other console screens searching for me.

"Hey! Dannen! Over here!" I cried as I waved my hands as frantically as I could, "I'm in Fix-It Felix Jr.!" This got his attention quickly. I could see him look over and jump towards the front of the screen and slam his face into it like a kid looking through a window.

"Holy Shit!" Dannen cried, "How did you get in there? And what happened to the dragon?"

"I managed to get out…" I responded, "But that's over and done with, please tell me you have a way to get me out of here."

"The portal is still opened. Like I said when you were running for your life, the portal should be in the same game you entered. You have to go back to Skyrim if you want to come out now."

"What?" I exclaimed, "I'm not going back in there!"

"Kailey! Don't worry about it. I'll take you back to the portal." Ralph intervened, though his statement brought worry to Felix.

"Not that again, Ralph!" Felix said, "You know what happened last time you went Turbo. I can't let you go alone, if anything I'll accompany you. My wife should be coming here shortly, so we can recruit her as well. She's the best gal around for escorting Users to their destination."

"Wife?" I asked. Reading up on the characters of the game I didn't recall any other main characters other than Felix and Ralph, and of course the Nicelanders, so it was surprising to know there was more to it.

"I'm sure you know of her." Felix answered, "She's Sergeant Tamora Calhoun from Hero's Duty. Quite the Dynamite Gal, isn't she? Although she doesn't like it when I say that."

"Calhoun? You mean that blonde?" I asked again with emphasis. Initially the thought of a badass futuristic space soldier dating this little guy was what caught my attention as strange, but soon it was the idea that these characters also communicated so intimately with each other despite coming from different consoles. Nonetheless, I was glad they wanted her to come. I needed all the help I could get reaching the portal and dealing with those dragons. The thought of meeting one again made me shutter.

"If you guys are going back to Skyrim I can upload my character and meet you there." Dannen insisted from the screen, "That way I can keep the portal free of dragons or any other nuisance."

"Sounds like a deal then." I said, "Go ahead and do that. I'll be there soon."

Dannen gave a nod and ran off, though now I sensed he was happy again that he was going to get to play with me in a video game. Of course the circumstances were of its best for any gamer. It was the ultimate crossover, sort of like Super Smash Brothers only with different characters and instead of Master Hand or something we had dragons. I couldn't help but smile. I felt a surge of giddiness overcome me, like butterflies. It was that joy you got when you opened a present on Christmas day, or when you made an A on a test you worked hard to pass. "Once we get this all figured out I'd love to stay longer." I said aloud, "Of course, I wouldn't go to Skyrim as my first game, ya know?" I chuckled as I turned back to look at Ralph and Felix. My smile remained as I looked at them, appreciating now what they were doing for me, and how much they cared for someone of my kind. "Why are you guys helping me, anyway?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Well, it's kinda funny you ask." Ralph responded, "I guess you could say, we need each other. You humans give us reason to exist, and we give you fun times and good memories." His statement was simple, but within it held all the meaning and focus of how they thought about humans, how they thought about me. I would have never realized that coming home from work and plopping on the couch meant meeting up with a friend every day. A friend whose sole purpose was to help me through hard times; a friend that saw me as a reason to live.

"What's all the humbo jumbo about a User?" A woman's voice stated bluntly yet fiercely from the entry way. We all looked over to see the woman from Hero's Duty, Sergeant Calhoun. As she seemed to stomp over to us, her question was answered with my presence. Despite that I was no longer bleeding, which obviously was a huge giveaway, she knew I was human. Her hand swept through her hair in a manner of surprise, as she sighed. "I guess those guys weren't kidding." She said.

"Honeybunch!" Felix jumped for joy as he rushed over to her. Calhoun was just a bit taller than me, so it was funny to see such a short guy like Felix clinging onto her. I wanted to chuckle and wipe a growing tear on my eye but knowing her personality I didn't want to say anything. "Kailey, I'd like to introduce you to my wife." Felix said, though his eyes continued to embrace Calhoun's presence, adoring her.

As typical of my upbringing I walked over and extended a hand. "It's nice to make your acquaintance, Calhoun." I said, attempting to be as polite as I could.

Calhoun looked at my hand a second, which made me feel awkward. I wasn't sure if I did something wrong or she was just testing me, but after a bit she grabbed my hand and shook it, though a bit harder than I anticipated. "It's Sergeant Calhoun, to you." She said, "But it is quite an honor to meet the kind of my creator."

"So, we need your help." Ralph spoke over to Calhoun, "She came in through a portal in Skyrim, though the game is too dangerous for her as of now. Felix and I were going to escort her back. We were hoping you'd come."

"I don't see why not." Calhoun answered, "You Pussywillow going Turbo almost destroyed the entire arcade. I think it'll be better if I did tag along."

There was that term again, Turbo. It didn't really strike me as interesting the first time that term was used but now it caught my attention. Not to mention it was always used in a negative sense, along the lines of a shutter or along with the word 'destroyed'. "What's 'going Turbo' mean?" I asked.

"Err, it's quite a story." Ralph said, cringing a bit, "About a year ago I wanted to prove myself to Felix and the Nicelanders that I could be a good guy. Though, I almost let the Cy-bugs destroy everything."

"What do you mean, _almost_?" Calhoun said, "Any longer and that Candy freak would have lead the invasions to the entire system."

"I don't need to be reminded." Ralph mentioned, lightly face palming himself, "Anyways, that leads me to another part of the story. 'Going Turbo' originated from a racer named Turbo, from a game way back when called Turbo Time. When his game became unpopular he tried wrecking another racing game, which got both games unplugged. Saying 'Going Turbo' is another word for saying Game Jumping."

Although he tried explaining it, it left me with more questions. "And Candy Freak?" I asked again, this time looking towards Calhoun.

"Again, this concerns Turbo. He survived when his game was unplugged and ended up at another game called Sugar Rush. He messed up the codes and took the games place as King Candy, though when Ralph started his circus show and brought Cy-bugs into the game of diabetes and crying children King Candy turned into a Cy-bug himself. A Cy-brid or something, who the heck cares. He's dead now." Calhoun didn't seem to care about this Turbo, King Candy guy or whatever. Everyone, in fact, looked like they wanted to put whatever happened behind them. Each of them had suddenly become fidgety, awkward or angry in their own way. So, I decided talking about Turbo was best left finished.

"Well then, I guess we should get going to the land of Skyrim, huh? My brother is probably already set up." I then suggested, hoping that would quickly make things better.

"Just stick with us Civilian, and we'll have you home quicker than a cute kitten in animal shelter." Calhoun said, and grabbed the giant gun that was hanging on her back and began to arm it. Without another word, she started back to the exit, and the three of us followed.

"So, what's the real world like?" Ralph asked. Hearing his questions brought me to think about my daily routine; which was boring as hell.

"Well… err… I've never really had to explain it before." I responded, "There are a lot of cars, trees, roads. Squirrels, I guess, and birds. As for me, I wake up early, usually before the sun is up, get ready and go to work or college."

"What do you do for work?" Calhoun then asked, though I found myself a bit ashamed thinking about it.

"I sit in an office and write stuff on a computer." I stated, though that was it. There weren't any more questions after that, and for a long moment or so all that was heard was the sound of our footsteps on the ground.

"No wonder you need video games." Calhoun said sarcastically.

It was then that we got to the end of the tunnel and back to the entrance. Though, what we found was nothing like I saw when I first arrived. Instead of game characters casually walking and talking among themselves, the clean walls and floors were now littered and covered in deep scratches that looked like a giant chainsaw was let loose. Some characters were laying on the ground unconscious as well, which caused the guys with me to gasp and cringe.

"What the blazes happened here?" Calhoun cried aloud, as she raised her large gun upward as if preparing for something. It was then that Ralph gasped again, and then suddenly and quickly ran over to one of the game characters that was laying on the ground. I saw him rush over to a little dark haired girl with candy covered in her hair. She looked tired and shaken but not hurt, though she apparently was out cold.

"Vanellope!" Ralph said with terror, lifting her small body upward in his big hands which seemed to encase her. When she didn't respond we all rushed over beside him, looking down at the small child.

"She's stable," Calhoun brought up to comfort Ralph, "But we need to get moving. Whatever happened here is apparently back in one of the consoles. We need to get Kailey back to the portal."

Again, all my anticipation for traveling Skyrim with these awesome characters subsided. This wasn't normal, and was completely out of line. Whatever, or whoever did this wasn't playing any game, this was an outright attack. Getting out of this place now was my top and only priority, though I wished things had gone a bit smoother, because I did after all long to stay.

Ralph hung onto Vanellope as we then proceeded back to Skyrim in a rush. Entering the game itself didn't take long, but the lingering anxiety of what we just saw stayed with us as we proceeded into the mountainous covered world.

"Kailey, are you in yet?" My brother's voice called from the skies sounding airy and distant due to the massiveness of the game from wherever the screen was located.

"Yeah, I'm in!" I yelled back, placing my hands on both sides of my lips to try and project my voice.

"Well, I found the portal." Dannen said, "It's directly west of Whiterun, in that field. It should be relatively close to where you were initially."

"Ah, the Western Watchtower." Calhoun spoke up, apparently knowing the game rather well, "That's just a mile or so this direction. We should be there quick enough."

I was thankful to hear that I wouldn't be stuck here much longer, but at the same time I was sad. "Why couldn't this have worked out better?" I placed my hands together and breathed into them, attempting to keep them warm as I said this, so it came out as a mutter. I wasn't sure if the guys heard, but then again I didn't want to worry them much. They were having problems, and complaining wasn't going to make it any better. I just had to hope that whatever was happening to the arcade would be taken care of.

We strove onward for what it seemed to be a long time, though once we did reach over the hills to gaze downward to our destination, the journey didn't seem long after all. Just like my brother said, to the west and just a bit beyond the tower was the portal. It looked like a crack had broken in the sky, and the heavens of Skyrim were leaking a solid yet lovely light blue light in which fell to the land like an airy moving waterfall. The line of the portals appearance was so perfectly straight it looked like it was a physical building that was standing up, made of glowing fireflies. As beautiful as it was, another sight sat before it, and beside the tower. A large dragon laid dead, and another body beside it. It was my brother's character. I didn't understand why this was. It should have been easy for Dannen to kill a dragon, and as program his character should have absorbed the dragon and its power, though the creature's body was left unscathed.

"Dannen, what happened?" I cried out loud.

"There was something else here!" Dannen responded, "I've never seen it before!"

"R-Ralph…" Vanellope suddenly woke though her voice was cracking and fading in and out from exhaustion. Hearing her speak again caused everyone to look at her, who still sat in Ralph's large hands.

"Vanellope, you're okay!" Ralph cried with joy, "What happened to Game Central Station?"

"I was racing…" Vanellope responded slowly, "…For the rooster lineup, like we always do when the arcade closes. When we heard about the girl, the human girl though after the race, something happened… It was…"

"It was what?" Ralph asked again, but more urgently, "What happened, who did this to you? Who crashed Game Central?"

"It-it was, King Candy…. Turbo" Vanellope said, "He's alive. I don't know how, but he's alive."

"How could he be alive, I saw him go into the Diet Coke explosion!" Calhoun said, though angrily, "He died outside of his original game, that doesn't make sense!"

Another voice, then accompanied ours. "There is'th so much you fools'th don't know!" This voice was angry and menacing, yet very much had a character sound to it. We had no idea where the voices point of origin was, but when it was then accompanied by the sound of pounding wings, like that of a wasp, or a hummingbird, we saw him. Rising above the ground and from his hiding place among the tower and rocks, was a giant creature with the face of a man with a rounded nose. However, this face didn't remain consistently, but glitched between this and another, the second face having a pale appearance with darkened eyes.

"Turbo?!" Ralph said, "Ho-How are you alive?"

"Wouldn't you like to know!" Turbo responded, his appearance continuing to hiccup in between faces, "But I suppose'th I can go ahead and give you the story. When that _glitch_ crossed the finish line it reset the game. Luckily for me, I embedded my own code into Sugar Rush and became a part of the game, so I was revived. Though the Cy-bug that merged with me remained a part of me. I just waited for th'he perfect opportunity to reveal mys'thelf. Hearing about a Us'th'er arriving gave me an idea, so I decided to find the portal before you could get to it! But now that you are here and seeing the girl for mys'thelf, I have other plans for her!"

"Kailey, run _now_." Calhoun said urgently, "Get to the portal, we'll take it from here."

Again, I fell into a state of panic. Calhoun's statement was urgent yet blunt, and she stared me down with her icy blue eyes as if trying to shove me psychologically. "Get going!"

I wish I could say goodbye, but I knew remaining there would only make it harder for them. With distain growing in my heart from having to part this way, I turned to look towards the portal and ran.


	3. Chapter 3

Gun fire filled the once serene landscape, accompanied by hard slams and powerful quakes that resembled aftershocks. It was despite these horrific sounds of battle that I continued to sprint through the icy grass, not looking back behind me to watch the sudden unfolding battle that overtook the field before the portal. I continued to keep the portal in sight, focusing intently on it as one may focus on a road when driving during a storm. It was only then, however, when I began to pass the dead dragon and the body of my brother's character, that I found myself slowing down. How easy was it for Turbo to kill them? How much time did my brother and the dragon really stay fighting until they ended up lifeless and in pieces like what I saw?

Although it wasn't really my brother, the cat like Khajiit character that lay there motionless caused my heart to thunk, skipping beats as it suddenly became hard to breathe. I found my all out sprint settled to a trot, and then to a standstill, only remaining ever so close to where the character lay. I had watched Dannen build that character from scratch; at level one it wore nothing but rags, and at almost level sixty eight now, it was clad in ebony armor. Despite all that effort and time that it took to raise its skill, it somehow was still not enough to defeat Turbo. Even the dragon that lay a few yards away, was torn to shreds. If Dannen or this dragon couldn't defeat Turbo, what made the others think they could?

I scanned the ground quickly, looking for a sword or a bow and arrow; anything that could give me some sort of defense just in case the others failed at their attempts to protect me. It was despite these efforts that the ground and my brother's character remained bare of anything. That was, for the exception of a single book. I picked it up, hoping I could gain some sort of level up, though it was written in a strange dialect. The only thing I could tell about it was it had a symbol of a flame on its cover.

"Kailey! Where are you? You need to hurry!" Dannen's voice called from the skies, though harder to hear over quick paced gun fire. "I don't know how much longer the portal will stay open!"

I found my gaze slipping to the bodies once again, soaking in how truly real they felt. In every way, they looked and smelled like death. It was really like the souls had left their eyes. "But- they're just _game_ characters." I muttered. Oh, how wrong I was. My mind seemed to flash from the moment I first stepped into the arcade, how each and every character, beast or man, was just as alive I was.

My legs left without me as I started to sprint again. I was getting tired, though the situation at hand seemed to push me past my limits. Although my mind was in a state of shock and paralysis, my body was coming to a state of self preservation. The world, nay, the reality as I knew it was literally being broken in front of me. What I thought was real, was only a small percent of what I could ever imagine. Now, in the course of a single day and night, I had started as just a regular girl sitting in an office, to a helpless being running for my life.

The portal was easing its way closer with every step I took, though seemed to remain as a whole in the background. In a state of panic I began to reach my arms out to it, as if desperately trying to physically grasp its light. I could already feel the warmth of it on my face, its blue rays highlighting and brining luminosity to my fair toned cheeks. Focusing on that light was the only thing that was keeping me from collapsing.

It was among my fast pace, where the light dangled itself before me when heavy laughter took the place of the gun fire. It couldn't have been but a few seconds of this transition of sound, when I again heard the pounding of Turbo's Cy-brid wings, and like an unexpected collision of lighting onto the earth, he landed harshly in front of me. His head was cocked sideways and down low to my level, as a heavy and almost maniacal smile overcame his expression. "Where do you think you're going, _Th'Sweettart_?" Turbo laughed as his eyes grew wide. While my mind lingered on him, my body continued to think for itself; my legs turned in an attempt to rush the other direction, though just as quickly as I managed to turn around, he was blocking my new path. This dance of changing course went on for a couple of turns all the while my fear growing ten times full. Every moment of my distress was every second of his amusement.

"Leave me alone!" I finally cried, placing my hands on both sides of my head as if trying to hold back the panic from falling out of me. I felt helpless, like a song bird being corralled by a hawk. I didn't know what to do; I've never had to experience anything like this in my life. The worst part of my daily routine was driving in traffic, with the occasional freak out from a test or some other simple problem that I could overcome. But this?

"Kailey!" I heard my brother's voice cry out to me. It left an echo in the skies and then dissipated as the laughing waves of Turbo's voice encased and destroyed it. I could imagine sitting on the couch with my brother, playing this game as it should be played. I remembered him slay hundreds of dragons, and thousands of mercenaries, all the while only wielding a sword and shield. Though, from there I remembered my own character. Whenever my sword was knocked out of my hands, I was never really _alone_. I found my hands fall from the sides of my head and in a trance I looked at them. In the real world they where only used for such thing as work, writing and for the comfort of others, but there was so much more potential. Here, they could do anything. That was when the light bulb when off.

I tensed the muscles in my hands, creating a claw like reflex out of them as I closed my eyes. "Control it." I muttered, feeling every ounce of strength weld up inside me and form energy in my grasp, growing warm and then hot as I focused. Opening my eyes I saw a spark, and quick as a flicker, a blaze of fire encased my hands. This is what my brother was talking about before, this was fire magicka, this was it! I didn't waste time now, and with a powerful shot of both arms, I spat two fire balls towards Turbo's direction. I managed to hit his face, so that immediately caused him to cease his laughter. I saw his eyes blink like he was trying to rid of pepper spray from his eyes as he fell back, but only slightly. His glitching hiccups suddenly became more sporadic as well, though I felt just that one simple shot wasn't enough. I tossed another round again, and again, hoping the more I managed to throw the more he would be weakened enough for me to continue my run. I found myself smiling now; I was the one in charge. I only wished I could use the Thum myself, then I'd be Dragonborn-!

"Wait? What?" I said as I got cut short of my train of thought. The flames in my hands suddenly grew weak, and every time I tried tossing another blast towards my target, I heard a clunk sound. I cringed at the situation as my grin left me, and through the thick smoke I had created looked upward to see Turbo smirking down at me, every few moments transitioning into his pale dark eyed persona.

"Out of juice, aren't we?" Turbo chuckled as he saw my dismay. I had completely forgotten at such a low level my magicka stats were weak and extremely limited. But now, facing him after my attempts at fighting back, I could see all that I had done did absolutely nothing. There wasn't a scratch on him, not even a burn.

"Now that I have your full attention…" Turbo spoke up again, seeming casual in his way of speaking to me. I, however, was completely caught off guard when he charged at me afterward. I screamed out of surprise and attempted to run again, but he was so fast that it only took less than a second for him to grab me. His large pink and violet clawed like hands encased me like a prison, wrapping around my waist like chains. I tried flailing my arms around and summoning magicka once again, but was left with nothing but more clunk sounds to show that I still couldn't use the fire ability anymore. It was because of this utter helplessness that I suddenly began pounding my fists on his fingers, though I quickly grew to imagine that it wasn't hurting him a single bit. I was waiting for something horrible to happen; a single crunch of his palm or a throw, anything and pretty much everything he could do to end it right there. But the longer I sat in his grasp, the more I began to realize that he wasn't about to kill me.

"I hope you're finis'thhed with your tantrum." He mocked me, though his smirk still remained.

"What do you want from me?" I then exclaimed, having the courage to finally look up at him. It was being this close, eye to eye now how I truly saw how terrifying he looked.

"Is'thn't it already obvious?" Turbo stated, "You're everything I could have possibly as'thked for! Literally a door has been set right before me and I've been given the key! Now, I think it's'th time for our exit, don't you think? I can finally give into… _the light_."

I wasn't sure what was happening. He began to sigh when he mentioned the light, and upon turning to look at the portal his eyes became filled with a blue pixilated hue. We slowly began to move to the portal, easing and inching ever so closer that I now was beginning to realize the disaster of all of this. If Turbo got out, who knows what he was capable of! If he could kill my brother's character, a dragon and take out the others, how were the people of the real world supposed to fight him? I wasn't even sure what his desires were, so the mystery of the situation is what scared me the most.

Again the warmth of the light seemed to embrace my face, though instead of thinking of it as my safety, I began to see it as my prison. I could only stare at the portal as we got close to it, and upon reaching its doorstep I could feel the push and pull of its energy breathing in and out to the real world to the game world. A sudden exhale of electricity encased the portal before us, and despite how close we were, it vanished. I was half expecting to make it through, though now I found the two of us remain there in the field, left barren like the icy world.

"W-wait, what just happened?" Turbo said as he withdrew from his trance due to the disappearance of the portals light. His confusion turned to anger abruptly as he turned to look all around him, then upward into the sky as if seeking out where the portal may have originated from. "_No_! I didn't wait this long for nothing!" He yelled. It was suddenly that he grasped me tighter and with his other free hand lifted one of his sharp fingers at my neck. "Human, I know you can hear me! If you want your th'sister's little neck to still be attached to her head, I'd th'suggest you open another portal!"

My eyes widened as Skyrim became silent. My heart was now pounding and the feeling of Turbo's cold finger at my neck made my distress even worse. Sometimes I wished I was the kind of person who fainted easily, because being forced to stay awake when faced with a situation like this was the least of my idea of fun.

"Please, don't hurt her…" My brother's voice answered back, though with a tone of regret and surrender, "I can open another portal, but I don't know where it will generate again."

"No, no, _no!" _Turbo yelled, "Do as I say exactly! I'm not dealing with any short cuts'th anymore! Open the portal in Hero's Duty!"

My wide frightened eyes glazed over to look upward at him. I was so confused. Why would he want the portal to open in Hero's Duty? But it didn't really matter to me now, the fact that my brother was even listening to a maniac like this was unbelievable. But then again, what choice did he have? I would have done the same thing for him if we had switched places.

"Okay… just, don't hurt my sister." Dannen said.

Instead of an answer, Turbo suddenly lifted off into the air, the cold wind becoming even more so as I lay in his hand among the pounding of his wings. Being lifted higher into the sky I could see the area around the watchtower again. There, among the torn land, was everyone that had tried to help me. They were just lying there, motionless like the dragon that lay among the rubble with them.

* * *

Past the screams of what remained in Game Central Station and into the entrance of Hero's Duty, I could see anticipation filling Turbo's eyes. There was not a single moment in his presence that I felt at peace. With every pound of his wings and every passing light above as we flew through the tunnel, I imagined faces of people I knew in the real world. They had no idea what was coming, and the only person who knew was my brother and I. I had thought numerous times how Dannen could warn the city, but I had an aching feeling they wouldn't believe him. People were concerned about the economy, getting to work on time and getting chores done. If my brother brought up a warning that a video game character was about to break loose and do God knows what to the real world, they'd laugh at him, they'd call him a lunatic, and only after it was too late realize the truth. They weren't prepared for something like this.

The dark tunnel left us as we were greeted by Hero's Duty. The game was in a stationary state, and there was absolutely no activity going on like I saw in game play. Instead there was only the group of soldiers that lingered about. It seemed as though they were somewhat prepared for our arrival though, as they all lifted their riffles and aimed upward at Turbo.

"I don't think you want to do that." Turbo said, lifting me upward to show the soldiers. Once they saw me they became hesitant, lowering their guns ever so slightly.

"It's the User!" One called, creating a shock value that made all the soldiers uneasy. They apparently knew that by attacking Turbo they would risk shooting me.

"Yes, you see now? If you th'shoot me, you'll risk killing her! That's'th not what you want, is it?" Turbo said, "Now move out of the way, you dirty buffoons!"

It was beginning to anger me that Turbo was using me as a shield. Turbo was easily able to pass by the soldiers, and begin his way upward toward the large tower, flying directly into the entrance of the final checkpoint of the game where one would arrive to obtain their medal. However, the medal of course wasn't what we were there for. Among the ground and scattered all around, were thousands, maybe millions of eggs. They glowed with a faint light, pulsing with life that would awaken with any sort of movement. I felt myself loose and hold my breath, even though I wasn't the one doing the walking, and found my mouth dropping. The Cy-bugs in Hero's Duty were hard to deal with during the game, but face to face?

"You th'see them? I hate them, quite honestly." Turbo explained, "The one that ate me turned me into this horrendous'th monster I am now. But I th'uppose, not everything bad came from them. I've now become the most powerful virus'th in the arcade! Initially I thought taking over every game I desired would be enough, and only then would I be able to obtain the glory I th'so craved. But now, that doesn't matter! I have _you_! A User! And branching from your arrival I now can take the stage of the real world as king. I'm not just Turbo, or King Candy anymore, I'm- King Turbo! My plans for your world will be like nothing you've ever th'seen!"

Reaching outward with his free hand, Turbo lightly pushed one of the eggs, causing it to topple over and hit another egg, and then another. This domino effect caused each and every egg that lay among the darkened floors become alive, and immediately their shells suddenly started cracking, awakening the viruses sleeping within. The glow of the egg shells themselves were nothing compared to the green hue of their eyes and mouths. With every one that awakened, a new green light shown into the darkened room. The rays of their glows combined became so bright that it was as if I was staring into a cluster of stars. Those hundreds and thousands of eggs were now crawling living creatures, and Turbo was about to use them as an army.

"There is'th a lot to think about in the course of a year." Turbo spoke up again, "When I was revived after that glitch crossed the finish line, and finding that I did not truly perish, I remained in hiding. I resorted striving on the very far outskirts of Th'sugar Rush, watching from afar and remembering how that wretched child crushed everything I worked th'so hard for. I tried taking my mind off of this anger and converted it into plans. Code ideas, manipulation of the computer language you humans created has proven to be the most valuable thing I've ever come across'th! I now can control the Cy-bugs as their leader, and with their will now mine, I can restart a new!"

I remained mute as he spoke. My mouth was still hanging open as I saw the Cy-bugs move around and stretch, knowing that a mass of an army this size, and ever growing, would be overkill. It was also the knowledge of the Cy-bug's that made me imagine what would happen if they were released into my world. Among this, Turbo, or King Candy as he referred to himself, was part Cy-bug himself. Was this his true nature, or was it because the virus code had changed him? I didn't know what to think, this had become more complicated. I didn't know a thing about codes and computer talk. But I knew good and well that hacking was possible in every way and form, I just didn't know a video game character; a program could take advantage of it.

The green light that illuminated from the Cy-bugs was soon accompanied by the arrival of the blue light of the portal. Its bright rays, immediately struck the Cy-bugs attention, causing them to fall into hypnosis like I had saw Turbo do before. They all began flying towards it, and in a matter of seconds and handfuls at a time, they vanished through the portal. Turbo himself watched the Cy-bugs fly into the portal initially, though I could see him controlling himself about falling into the trance himself. I assumed it was his time alone for a year he managed to regain control of himself and these new Cy-brid weaknesses.

"There it is!" Turbo exclaimed with excitement, "There is my new frontier! There, is my destiny!"

After he spoke, he gave in. I saw his expression relax as his eyes became overwhelmed with pixilation, and like before we were moving into the new portal. All around us Cy-bugs continued to flow through the portal with us, and more were still leaking from the building from whence we came. I had to shut my eyes once we got close enough to the portal, but I continued to hear all that was going on. Although the world around me began to change as we entered the portal, the terrifying sound of millions of Cy-bugs flying at once continued to hum. Once I felt the light leave me, I opened my eyes again. But I wasn't quite ready for what I saw.

The arcade's ceiling had been cleaved apart, and out and beyond into the city I could see those many Cy-bugs beginning to spread into the real world. The sun was just beginning to dawn in the horizon, though what little ray of sun I could feel would momentarily become blotted out by the sheer masses of Cy-bugs. It was after arriving into the real world that I noticed that Turbo's glitching ceased, defaulting to his King Candy face.

Turbo flew higher into the skies, as he took a look at the city before him. Again, he chuckled. "A new stage…" He mustered, apparently thinking highly of himself as he gazed upon it, "But firth'st, there is something to take care of! Cy-bugs, destroy the arcade and that portal! Sever all ties, nobody will be sent back in, and nobody can come out!"

"No!" Turbo's statement shocked me so much that I finally was able to scream for the first time in what it seemed like an eternity. I saw the Cy-bugs launch down and attack and devour the device that sent me into the game world in the first place, and once it was destroyed the arcade games themselves were then attacked. Every single one, Pac Man, Frogger, all the Xbox's and PS3's, now became nothing but scraps and garbage in the blink of an eye. Now I knew though, they weren't just consoles, they were worlds and homes! It took a moment for me to soak in that I just witnessed hundreds of program characters die.

"Don't concern yours'thelf with the like's those any longer." Turbo said, placing another one of his sharp Cy-brid fingers under my chin to force me to look up at him. "Video games won't be necessary anymore! I will be all you need!"

Once he finished speaking to me his wings pounded harder and he launched the two of us higher into the skies and across the city. At this point I was terrified of what happened to my brother. He must have been at the machine when the Cy-bugs came out. I wondered if he had escaped, but those odds seemed very small. I couldn't bear the thought of any more death, but it was only the beginning.

Our crossing over the city was quick, and soon Turbo landed a top of the highest building he could find to get a better view. After he landed, was when he tossed me down onto the ground. As I hit the concrete rooftop, I anticipated trying to escape. I took a look at the door on the roof, though immediately as my eyes settled on it Turbo smashed it with his fist. Breaking it into rubble, the doorway was now clogged and worthless.

"Now, I've got you right where I want you, hoohoo!" Turbo said followed by letting loose a chuckle, manically fluttering his fingers together. Still having not recovered from being tossed on the ground, I scooted back a few times, though found that it really didn't get me much distance between Turbo and I. "You'll have the honor to witne'thss the rise of my new rule!" Turbo said, "Every human on the planet will have the choice to accept me as their king, or die. But you, Th'sweettart, will be shielded from all of that. I will make a spectacle of you! You being the first User, I will make it known to all of your kind that I am the new alpha, and that those who dare to be brave and go against me will not survive! I will regain the spotlight once more, and be adored by millions!"

"You're a _monster_." I spat out, though my throat cracking due to sheer emotion, "People won't adore you, or love you! They're going to fear you!"

"Love, fear- it doesn't matter to me!" Turbo said as he retained his grin, "As long as I'm the one they see and look up to! The world will be under my control, and you will not be able to escape! You will be _mine_!"

I found now that I was tired of running. I had done nothing but run away since I set foot into the game world, and now I had finally met the end of it. I didn't see any point. There wasn't anywhere to go, and even if I did escape, my brother was gone. My longing for adventure and escape from reality came true, though not quite in the way I had always dreamed. I wasn't some warrior, a great negotiator or a powerful wizard. I was in the real world, and I was just a helpless girl.

"Kailey!" I heard a familiar voice call out to me. It was distant and so utterly ghostly that I didn't think it was even real at first. I began to hear the sound of breaking glass, this sound growing louder and louder as if someone was climbing up the side of the building. Quickly though, I saw who had called my name as he peered over the side of the building.

"Wreck-It Ralph?!" Turbo cried, as he saw him jump from the ledge and directly beside me. Turbo wasn't the only one who was caught by surprise however. I found my jaw dropping again, not completely understanding how Ralph had made it in the first place.

"Ralph! What happened? I thought you were dead! I saw the portal and the arcade get destroyed!" I managed to gasp out.

"I'll explain it later, we gotta go! Er, sorry about this." Ralph quickly grabbed a hold of me and started running toward the edge of the building. I could hear Turbo growl irritably and the sudden pounding of his wings reignite after us.

"Wait, where are we going? There is no way down!" I cried, finding the wind up this high was becoming more hectic and loud.

"We're gonna jump. Just, hold on I guess." Ralph responded, as I felt gravity grow a bit stronger once we left the ledge. I didn't have enough time to deny this idea once he leapt. My reaction was to grab the closest thing to me, which happened to be his face and with all the power my lungs had left I screamed. On the way down I saw my life pass through my eyes and then I began contemplating how the hell we were going to survive a fall. But, I figured if he could survive a jump from a building in the game world, he'd still be able to handle it in the real world.

Although it was easy for him, falling wasn't the same for me. It was about three fourths down that he jabbed one of his hands into the side of the building, grabbing a hold of one of the heavy duty metal bars that held the building together. The jerk of the sudden stop tugged at my head, and for a brief moment I felt dizzy. Though I regained myself once he dropped back again, and finally landed on the ground.

"Oh my lands, Ralph! I'm so glad you're okay!" Felix said as he rushed over to us. I could see the little girl Vanellope standing behind him, and Calhoun too. Their presence couldn't have made me feel any better.

"No time to waste! We need to get out of here, pronto!" Calhoun said as she looked around for anything to help us. It was the sight of an abandoned truck in which she finally let loose a grin and rushed towards it.

"Hey, let me drive! I can get us out of here no problem!" Vanellope said as she rushed passed Calhoun and beside the truck.

"Please, you're too short to even reach the pedals. I'll take it from here." Calhoun responded, slightly pushing Vanellope's head and opening the door herself. Once she was in the car the rest of us followed, while Ralph resorted to riding in the bed of the truck.

Calhoun started the truck abruptly and stepped on the gas, causing us to launch onto the road. Our timing couldn't have been any better, because looking at the side mirrors I could see Turbo already on our tail. He was fast, and gaining, and with every passing second I again felt as if I was going to jump out of my skin. Calhoun managed to dodge any traffic that was in the way, though it was despite her perfect coordination that Turbo still managed to stay behind us. He was so powerful that anything that was in his way he'd push violently aside. I was glad that most of the cars were devoid of anyone.

"Jiminy Jaminy! What are we going to do?" Felix cried as he stared out the back. Everyone but Calhoun had their eyes either staring at the mirrors or their faces slammed against the back window staring at the absolute rage that was after us.

"Hold your bras, ladies, we're going through some train tracks." Calhoun said, though remaining completely calm.

"It was her warning that caused me to look away from my pursuer to the road ahead of us. There were railroad lights blinking, indicating danger, and literally a few hundred yards to the left was an oncoming train heading faster than normal. I found that swallowing was becoming difficult as we got closer, considering the collision was incredibly possible at our rate of speed.

"We're not gonna make it!" Felix cried, placing both his hands over his face to shield his eyes.

"Oh, yes we are, Tiddlywink! There is no way I'm going to let that Candy freak get the better of this soldier." Calhoun responded in a yell.

The truck met a sudden bump in the tracks, and the light of the front of the train shined into the truck. It happened so quickly though, that I found we made it a cross just in time, though looking back I saw the train make a huge collision with Turbo. Like foil, the train smashed inward, toppling over and causing a huge and disastrous crash of metal and iron. Parts from the train flew everywhere, and dust from the roads spat into the air. Though despite after all that, I saw Turbo remain standing, though he had apparently been shaken enough for him to stop.

"Heh, run for as long as you can, Th'sweettart!" Turbo yelled, though a hint of anger filled the tone of his voice, "Run as long as you can, I _will _find you!"

Although the hectic chase had abruptly ended, we were left with a discomfort that seemed to have physically manifested itself in the air. In that moment of silence, when the sound of the trucks wheels could be heard rolling through the ground below us, was the first situation where I was closer to peace then I had been all night.

"So, what's going on?" Ralph said from the back as he slid the glass door sideways so we could hear him better, "Why does Turbo have some claim over Kailey?"

"Ew, you don't think he wants to marry her do ya? 'Cause that would be pretty weird." Vanellope attempted to joke around, but it wasn't very funny. I could see everyone's eyes slip over to her slightly, continuing to frown.

"This isn't just about goo-goo eyes and Cupid arrows." Calhoun spoke up, "Turbo is targeting all of his held up emotions, whether it be rage, longing, and jealousy, all on her. It also must have to do with her being the first User. He's making an example of her to the rest of the humans." Calhoun steadied the truck and its procession on the road and looked over at me. For the first time since I met her, she was showing genuine concern. "We have to find a way to fight back. Kailey, do you know where your brother kept information on the portal generator? Any information will help."

"Well, I assume he'd keep all his work on his lap top." I mentioned, "It would be in his dorm at the university."

"That's a start then." Calhoun said, "We need to get moving, who knows how much longer it'll take for the Cy-bugs to reach further into your world."

"You guys." I managed to speak up again, "How did you get out in time? I thought… well, you were dead! And then when I saw the Cy-bugs destroy the machine and the rest of the arcade games, I didn't know what to think…"

"Nothing can keep this soldier down, Civilian." Calhoun mentioned, "And these guys might seem like a bunch of marshmallows but their pretty tough."

"I wasn't going to stay out for long!" Vanellope joined in the conversation again as she raised a fist, as if trying to show her strength, "Turbo tried stealing my world before, so when I heard he was doing something crazy like this I had to help!"

"But- why are you guys protecting _me_?" I spoke up again, "There are a lot of people in need of help from people like you."

"Well, for one thing it was hard to see Candy Freak take advantage of you like that." Calhoun said, "Also, you're the only one we know that knows anything about the creation of the portal machine. Your brother was nowhere in sight. But, it's our job, well, at least my job to get the User to the finish line. In this case I guess it'll be the equivalent to taking back your world."

Calhoun's answer brought an abundance of different emotions to run through me. Not only the fact that they didn't see my brother, but that I was their only possibly link to finding any information about the machine my brother and his team created. It brought me to wonder where the rest of the club was located, whether they had been killed in the sudden invasion or were out in hiding.

* * *

The open highways leading away from the main city soon brought us to the university. The campus had been completely abandoned, and was devoid of any people. The only things that remained were some abandoned cars and how every now and again the wind would pick up enough to push clusters of homework papers around to litter the campus. How my brother's university looked, once flourishing, was now nothing but an abandoned site. Word of what had happened apparently traveled quickly enough for the kids to jump ship, which of course I couldn't blame them for doing so.

I made sure to lead the group to my brothers dorm, which I recalled quite well since I had been there a handful of times. My brother was just a freshman, so my family and I always treated him like the baby still. Every chance we could get we would visit him, although he always was reluctant about it. I wasn't sure if that was a sign of simply growing apart from the nest, or how he had other things to do that somehow replaced family. Nonetheless, walking the campus halls once again brought about a lot of nostalgia.

Arriving to his room, dorm 9196 exactly, we stood before it as if anticipating what may be behind. It was obviously abandoned, because I couldn't hear anyone rustling on the other sides. I found instead of knocking that I simply reached for the door handle, though it was locked.

"I don't have a key…" I mentioned, looking back at the group.

"Step aside, I can handle this." Ralph mentioned as he patted his large hands together, and then soon made a fist from one of them. I listened quickly and got out of the way, and with a single punch Ralph knocked the door clear from its frame and into the room. Once the dust settled and before anyone else could enter I rushed in, scanning the dorm for my brother's computer. Luckily it was on the coffee table in front of the couch.

"There it is!" I cried, extending my arms and running towards it excitedly. I opened it and began searching through the files, looking for any sort of information regarding the machine. It didn't take long to find blueprints of it, and other notes concerning their progress over the course of the months. However, what caught my eye the most was a video, dated back to 1984. My curiosity brought me to open the file, and immediately the video began to play. It had a home video quality to it, and it was focused on a man that was just reaching his middle aged years.

"_My name is Kevin Flynn._" The man on the video began, "_This is my first video update concerning my creation, what I call the digitizing laser, aka the Shiva laser. With it I have discovered the Grid, a blank, digital platform in which I can create anything I so desire. I have been visiting the Grid recently and progress has come along wonderfully. I've even begun adapting what I've learned into arcade games, just for the fun of it, I guess. Every day I come here though, I learn something new. This, is going to change the world._"

Before the video could go on any longer, the lights in the dorm flickered and then completely shut down. Following the power outage was a strange silence, like that kind of silence during the eye of a storm. It was only the sudden sound of pounding wings that we became worried, though this anticipation was destroyed quickly when the glass window of my brother's dorm was slammed into by a Cy-bug.

It was quick moving, and I didn't have enough time to react when the Cy-bug scrambled over my direction and crammed part of the table and the lap top into its mouth. Once it devoured the computer, the Cy-bug's exterior changed into a slick black and silver coating like the color of the lap top, and ironically on the upper right corner above its wide glowing eyes the 'Dell' symbol of the lap top appeared on it.

I sat up quickly, though found my surprise had taken the best of me. With wide eyes I stared at the Cy-bug, knowing good and well that anything that could have helped us and every source of known information on the Shiva laser was devoured right before my eyes.

"It's no help to us now, _move, move_!" Calhoun yelled as she grabbed my arm. Again we all rushed away from the dorm and to the outside where we left the truck, getting in quickly and driving off as soon as the key was ignited. In a matter of seconds the campus became overtaken with Cy-bugs, destroying anything and everything they could, mostly targeting all of the technology. Every computer lab, telephone and hand held that was left lying out and about was eaten and torn to shreds. They were relentless, and they were not going to leave anything behind.

Although we managed to get away in time, looking back at the campus as we drove away only caused me more pain. From my point of view, the campus that was supposed to be a place of knowledge and growing, was nothing more than rubble, and was now being turned into a hive. In the skies heading towards the campuses direction was a cloud of Cy-bugs. Their sheer masses were blotting out the sun, which at this point should have been clearly vibrant on the horizon. I had to look away then. I was just one girl, and we were just five people against an army of monsters. I never thought I would have come to the point where I missed simply sitting in a chair and working, or attending classes and listening to a lecture. I felt I was going to be running now for the rest of my life, and giving up would only lead to me being a prisoner. I sunk in my seat and closed my eyes, finding now that my face was growing red from holding back my worries for so long. At that moment, again when the sound of the road was solely my lullaby, I buried my face in my hands, and as silently as I could, I began to mourn.


	4. Chapter 4

I felt my consciousness try and drift away from me, falling from my grasp like slipping sands between fingertips. The moments my reality did blank out came in cycles and unknowing to me, and when I opened my eyes again I found the time on the dash would skip vastly, sometimes mere moments to me truly having become hours. The early morning dawn and lights of the city had slowly vanished in my times of drifting away, and despite the daylight having made its appearance in the skies, my face, my eyes and my entire being as a whole felt heavy. I had nights where I used to wake up like this, desperately reassuring myself everything would be okay and that they had all been just nightmares. Those visions where I lost myself, visions of beasts that traced me down, and even seeing loved ones die, were all just that; my imagination, my mind trying to play tricks on me, testing my ability to regain control of who I was. This though, what just happened, was real, and they weren't just in my head. Without my brother, what would become of my family? Would my home be as it was when I left it? Despite that I knew those things were out of my reach, I continued to think about them and ponder what would have happened if things had gone differently. What if Dannen had never gotten involved in this robotics club, and programming team? Maybe it would have been different if he never called me, or even if he did, maybe it would have been better if I had refused Dannen's proposal, and told him this idea of his, this big step, was a waste of time. I could have said it was a ridiculous idea, and that his hard work wouldn't have paid off and it would have been a failure. But I didn't. I had his back, and I was the one that gave him the okay. I should have known better.

The road ahead of us was now wide and open, and on each side was an abundance of trees and brush left unscathed by those wretched creatures that were now filling my world. I let off a sigh as I finally managed to gather my strength and sit up again, though drifting my gaze towards the window. I felt this was the least I could do for the guys; I didn't want them to see me like this. I didn't want anyone to see me at my lowest point. But despite my efforts I could feel them looking at me, their focus sincere in intent but their reactions silenced by the situation.

"I'm sorry." I finally said, "I could have prevented this."

"There is no reason to apologize, Kailey." I heard Felix speak up, "Nobody could have predicted this. Your intentions and your brother's intentions were all of good will."

"Cy-bugs have always been a nuisance." Calhoun spoke up this time, "Even in Hero's Duty they were a pain in ass. It always struck me odd that humans would even create such creatures. They are viruses whose sole purpose is to kill."

"But that's not just it." I said, "They are viruses, and have always been viruses. King Candy… wasn't he just a program? Like all of you?"

"You humans don't realize it, but we are just as alive as you are. I think you're the only one who really sees that at this point." Calhoun responded, "I would assume Turbo did what he did because he was created in the image of man, just like all of us. We have every emotion you do, and sometimes I guess, it can break us."

I felt myself cringed on the inside. How did we go so many years without realizing we had created a type of artificial intelligence? I wondered if Kevin Flynn, the man in the video realized this. That must have been why he ceased the project, or perhaps why he was never heard from again.

"I don't care if anyone thinks otherwise of me." I spat out, growing angry with myself, "We were messing with something that didn't need to be messed with. Our worlds were made separate because that's how it was meant to be."

"Hey, why would you say something like that?" Vanellope finally popped up again, though this time showing her own irritation, "Look here Princess Mope, our worlds have been closer than you think. _Together_ is the way it was always supposed to be, sometimes chances and mistakes need to be made."

"Chances that involved killing thousands of people?" I turned around to look at her, narrowing my eyes a bit, "You don't realize you guys, I'm not like you! I'm not a wrecker, a racer, a fixer or even a leader! What's happening is out of my control. All I am or will ever be, is me, a girl from the real world. The only thing I've done with my life is work, go to college and occasionally go to conventions in cosplay."

"Wait- what is cosplay?" Ralph asked from the back of the truck, his face ever so slightly sticking through the back window to listen to us.

"It's when you- ugh! Never mind! It doesn't matter!" I said, "There won't be cosplay, or anything anymore now that Turbo has taken over the world with his horde of Cy-bugs."

The truck became silent again for a brief moment. Everyone wasn't quite sure what to say to each other, and again that horrible isolation I was so accustomed to returned. It was then, upon sitting in that silence I saw how ironic this entire situation was, at least at the time being. I got what I asked for, an adventure, something different then sitting in my office, and yet I made it to where it was nothing but simply sitting there and mindlessly gazing out the window. I couldn't help but think though how wrong everything went, and that this couldn't have possibly been what I asked for.

"One thing I learned about being programmed as a soldier is that you can never give up." Calhoun finally managed to break the silence, "Whether you're in the game world or in the real world there will always be an antagonist, there will always be something that goes wrong. What you don't understand, Kailey, is that humans have potential. After all, your kind created us. If we're going to win, you better start having a mindset of a winner, simple as that. The pussy bawling and puppy tears stop _now_."

I felt a little embarrassed when she said that. I knew it was in her programming to be a little heartless, but I suppose I needed to be verbally whipped. Of course, things didn't go as I wanted, or as I planned, but it happened anyway. I had to take the challenge head on, but my only concern was _how_?

I was pulled from my train of thought when I felt Calhoun apply the brakes. The stop was so sudden that I looked up as quickly as I could, and upon looking through the windshield I saw where all the people from around the city had gone. The traffic of those who escaped the initial invasion was all here, at a complete standstill. From where I saw I could see the road was absolutely covered in these cars as far as the eye could see and upon stopping behind this massive traffic jam I quickly smelled exhaust. Horns tirelessly honked and occasionally I could hear a yell from angry and frightened people, though no matter how much they tried to communicate to one another the cars wouldn't move.

"What do we do now?" Felix asked, "These people can't get anywhere, they're stuck."

"There are too many people trying to leave at once." I answered, though suddenly I felt my anxiety return. This situation reminded me of the time me and my family evacuated the city because of a hurricane, and even then it took an entire day to go somewhere that was only a few hours away. But hurricanes fade, and I knew that sitting in one spot would only lead to disaster. All of those people stuck like this frightened me, and upon feeling my anxiety a wave of horror struck me when I suddenly began to hear the pounding of wings. Everyone heard it the same time as me, and we all looked behind us to see in the distant skies a small dark cloud of Cy-bugs approaching.

"Get out of the truck!" Calhoun said, opening the door quickly and retrieving her large gun in her arms. I jumped out of the vehicle as quickly as I could, and began to gaze upward at the oncoming horde. There were so many people here, and with a handful of Cy-bugs I knew there would be more than this on the way.

"What do we do?" I exclaimed, placing my hands in my hair as I looked over at everyone. I could see sheer terror overcome some of the people's faces through their review mirrors from within their car. The ones that noticed this cloud started gathering their things and their children and start running, but I knew this was only the beginning of the chaos.

"Felix, Ralph and I will stay here and try and fend them off." Calhoun ordered as she prepared her weapon, "You and Vanellope get out of here and run for cover."

"Wait- I'm not leaving you guys!" I responded, "Where do we go, how will we know to come look for you?"

" C'mon, we can help!" Vanellope then stated, tightening her little fists to show she was more than willing to help.

"No, you and Kailey don't have anything to defend yourself with-" Calhoun started, but suddenly was broken off when another handful of five stray Cy-bugs spat from the trees beside the road right at us and around the back most cluster of cars. It was this new attack of Cy-bugs that caused everyone who hadn't done so before to jump from their vehicles and run screaming, dodging through the milestone of cars like ants trying to dodge through rain.

"Let's get out of here!" Vanellope jumped up and grabbed my hand and started running with me to the forest beside us, though before we could even make it off the concrete a Cy-bug jumped in front of us and blocked our path. Vanellope and I both let out a scream in unison and ran the opposite direction, though I could see immediately that was the worst possible choice we could have made. The Cy-bugs were corralling the humans that were trapped in the road and around the cars like cattle, and upon seeing this I realized there was nowhere to run. Vanellope tugged my hand again and steered me under another large truck, where we tried remaining quiet as Cy-bugs continued to seize their way around us. There, from under the truck, was when I could see perfectly what was happening. From beneath the wheels of the cars I saw people's feet scurrying in all directions. When the mass cloud of Cy-bugs made their entrance to the already confusing scene though was when the screaming and cries became more intense. Awestruck from this sudden display, I saw those Cy-bugs start roaming through the crowd of humans more aggressively. One woman fell to the ground right in front of me, and for a split second as I hid beneath the truck she stared me straight in the eye as her face landed harshly on the road. She reminded me so much of myself that I felt my muscles tighten up, and an almost sickening feeling overcame me. Our destinies were different but our reactions to the situation were exactly the same. Her brown eyes held the weight of the world, mirroring my own exactly. Instantly after we met gazes, she was suddenly plucked upward by the Cy-bug and driven into the skies and over the trees. Her scream stuck out like an out of tune flute among screeching violins. Among this abduction though I could see what the other Cy-bugs were doing. The more defiant humans, the ones that weren't of choice to be picked off, where violently slaughtered and devoured.

"Holy, shit! Shit, _shit shit_!" I felt like I was about to have a panic attack as I chanted, "They're _eating _people! And I don't even want to know what's going to happen to the people being freaking _abducted._"

"Let's not stick around, huh? I've dealt with these things before; we gotta try and go around them!" Vanellope said, and again tugged my hand harshly to try and get us out from under the vehicle.

"Screw that, I'm not going out there!" I gasped with wide eyes.

"If we stay here any longer they'll get us!" Vanellope cried and slapped my arm as hard as she could, "Hurry, let's go!"

Before she could get me to move a Cy-bug crouched down to look at us. Just as its green lights hit me I let out another scream and tried crawling out from under the vehicle. I felt quickly though its claws grab my boot, and try and pull me towards it. "It's got my foot!" I yelled, "For the love of God, it's got my foot!"

Vanellope grabbed both my hands as I started being dragged out, though even with her help it was easy for the Cy-bug to pluck me from under the truck and lift me upward, with Vanellope still attached. As I hung upside down, still clinging to the little girl, I stared into the glow of the Cy-bugs gaze. Looking at it, it seemed familiar. My thoughts were proven accurate when I saw the 'Dell' inscription on the top of it. It was the one that had eaten my brother's computer.

"Vanellope, do something!" I yelled. The Cy-bugs wings started to flutter as if it was going to prepare to take off into the air. At that point I wasn't surprised if I was going to become one of the abducted individuals.

"I'm trying; I can't glitch in this place!" Vanellope cried as she smashed her eyes shut. Her face started turning red as if she was holding her breath, or straining harshly. I recalled Turbo ceasing to glitch once he came through the portal to the real world, resulting in his face defaulting to his King Candy persona. Perhaps it was the same for every other program. Glitching ceased in the real world.

"It's not going to work, Vanellope!" I cried.

I felt the Cy-bug's wings start pounding now, and we started to gently lift into the air. I couldn't believe this was happening; I wasn't ready to be out of the game so quickly! I had a wretched feeling that the people being abducted, including myself, would only end up back to where Turbo was. I couldn't allow that to happen to myself.

Before I could even let out another scream, the Cy-bug was slapped aside harshly, causing Vanellope and I to tumble to the ground. Before we hit the hard concrete though, I could see our rescuer. It was Ralph, again.

"What are you guys doing, you need to get out of here!" Ralph cried as he helped us to our feet, "Get going!"

Dell, the Cy-bug that had tried attacking us, had gone flying over and smashed into another car. Instead of charging at us again it flew into the air and disappeared down the road, leaving us with lesser problems and finally a way toward safety. Upon seeing Dell fly off I felt Vanellope grab my hand again and we started into the forest, leaving behind Ralph who seemed more distraught than he was happy we were able to get away from the sudden battle. As we entered the trees I was finally able to hear Calhoun shooting though the sheer mass of screams. The echoes of thousands of people, smashing cars and Calhoun's gunfire bounced from tree truck to tree trunk, and only became muffled when we had gathered enough distance between us.

"The hell!?" I gasped finally, "That was way to close."

"Shut your pie hole!" Vanellope responded, clutching my hand tighter as a way to both try and comfort me and get my attention to shut up, "We need to be quiet, you never know if there are one of those things in here. We need to find a place to hide out."

I wouldn't open my mouth again for a long time after that. We continued through the forest, and with every few yards the chaos we left behind became quieter, being replaced with the chatter of leaves and crunch of sticks beneath our feet. This constant procession through the woods became repetitive, and at a certain point things started to look the same, no matter which way we started to move. It was only from this sense of feeling lost that I began to realize how hungry I was getting, and thirsty for that matter.

"Vanellope, we have to stop." I stated, letting of a large sigh as I smacked my lips together, finding my mouth had become dry from all the screaming and running I had endured the past day and a half.

Vanellope stopped and turned to look at me, though I could tell she wasn't in the same situation as I was. As a matter of fact, I didn't even know if game characters required food, let alone ate in general. "I'll bet, Princess Mope, you look like you could use a fuel up." She said, "Too bad your world isn't made of candy like mine."

"Yeah, too bad." I responded sarcastically, "Just keep an eye out… I'm going to need to get my hands on something or I'm going to pass out."

"All right, I gotcha," Vanellope smiled a little, "But don't pass out, please."

Slowing down a little Vanellope continued to walk with me, though every once in a while she would look up in my direction and continue to smile. I wasn't sure if she was making fun of me at this point or this was simply her personality, but overall it was quite awkward. "So, your brother, what was his name? I was passed out for a good while so I never got to meet him."

"His name is Dannen." I responded, although talking about him suddenly made me feel a bit weary, but at the same time it was good to say his name aloud again.

"Dannen?" Vanellope said, her smile twisting a little as she laughed, "Who names their kid, Dannen? Were your parents a fan of yogurt or something?"

"No."

"Really, because that sounds like a yogurt fan name to me. Dannen, Dannon… Ha!"

"Please stop, just, don't."

"Aw, c'mon! Fine, then… I guess you're still soar about him disappearing and all. Let's see, if you don't want to talk about your yogurt brother, how long did it take to grow your hair to your butt? I'm not really a hair person, but jeez, it would be amazin' if you stuck a bunch of candy through it in a braid or something. I'd give it a shot myself."

"Err, it took about two years, I guess."

"That's coolio. Hey, you drive right? Have you ever raced before? Oh wait, that's right, you said you weren't a racer. Well, technically you're contradicting yourself since you drive a car. I mean, you drive your car through traffic, or whatever, right? And you're trying to get to work on time? You're a racer and didn't even know it!"

"Look, can we focus on finding food?" I felt my left eye start to twitch. I normally wouldn't mind having random conversations with someone, especially a game character, but being bombarded with constant questions at this point was causing me to become irritable. All I could think about was finding a tall glass of water, and any sort of edibles I could get my hands on. It was thinking about this, when I looked up to see a building. We had come to another but thin road, and beside it was a small convenient store.

"Thank God!" I cried as I started trotting towards it, letting my arms come upward into a claw like reflex as I started to the door, preparing to dip my hands into the many assorted snacks these places had. To my utter horror, however, the place had been ransacked of a whole lot of merchandise. I initially started to panic and flail my hands at my neck as if trying to cool myself off, though quickly found one large bottle of water in the fridge. I didn't waste a single second as I ran at it and started gulping down that precious liquid. Water never tasted so wonderful in my entire life.

"Hey, don't freak out to much, they have a couple of Dark Chocolate Milkyway left!" Vanellope called from one of the isles, "No chips though, looks like they're gone."

"Thank heavens!" I cried through segments of drinking, and once I was satisfied I rushed over to where she was and started at those chocolates like a kid opening Easter Eggs.

"Ralph's never been a big fan of chocolate." Vanellope commented as I dug through what was left on the shelves and stuck them in my pocket, "But I think Stinkbrain just hasn't found the right kind of chocolate, ya know? I mean, jeez."

I wasn't really paying attention to her, I was too focused on my mission to horde as many food items as I could, though soon found that my pockets couldn't contain much more. "Damn skinny jeans." I muttered to myself, "The pockets are never big enough." I resorted to sticking things in my boots instead at that point. There was always room to improvise.

It was in my intense thought of how and where I was going to store snacks on my body when I heard the sound of a door shut. I perked up from the shelves and looked over at the counter, hearing footsteps coming our way. It was only at that time I saw the television that was hanging on the wall, and on its screen, through series of momentary static, that I saw a picture of myself. I had to rub my eyes in order to get myself to try and understand why on earth my picture would be up on the screen like that.

"Is- is that my _Facebook_ default?" I stuttered as my lips hung with surprise.

"Facebook?" Vanellope asked, "Where the heck do you guys come up with these weird names for things? First there is cosplay and now Facebook? You need to explain all this stuff to me sooner or later."

My stare into the screen was broken once the door behind the counter swung open. From what I could see were three teenagers, bruised looking and covered in dirt, but very angry. They briefly looked up at the television screen and then back at me, their eyes widening with sudden alert.

"It's her!" They the tallest boy of the trio cried, "It's the first User, the one King Turbo wants!"

"What are you waiting for, get her!" Another said, and from his pocket he took out a handgun. Seeing this caused me go limp briefly, and in a state of panic I grabbed Vanellope's arm and started to run.

I managed to get out of the store, but I didn't make it much further when I heard the gun go off, and the bullet bounced right in front of me. Coming to a standstill, I heard the same boy cry out, "Don't move! Or I'll shoot that chibi character you're hanging with!"

Both Vanellope and I lifted our arms in the air and turned around, to see the three teenagers make their way out towards us. I didn't understand why they were doing this, and why they were even helping Turbo whatsoever. "You don't understand what you're doing!" I cried.

"Shut your trap!" The only female of the group said, "King Turbo promised that if we did what he wanted then our parents would be freed."

"He's a liar!" I shouted again, "He's manipulating you, don't you get it? Nobody is going to be set free! He's going to do whatever he wants without any consequences!" Despite expressing this it didn't matter, the boy with the handgun continued to aim the weapon at me and the other two still had scowls glued to their face. In all honestly I didn't know whether they were doing this simply because Turbo had forced them to, or because they wanted to. After what I saw, why would anyone want to serve Turbo? It was despite all my negative feelings toward the situation, and outward explanation as to all the reasons why these kids were giving their will to the wrong person, in which they started walking closer to us. Although I kept my eyes on the approaching trio I could sense that Vanellope was frightened. It would be one thing if Turbo captured me; he had already stated what was to become of me. But Vanellope would be different. Not only did they have a horrible and negative past but she was a program too, and an overall threat to his new reign. It would be no doubt that he would have her killed.

"Step back!" I yelled, taking a step forward and in front of Vanellope, "Do as I say and get out of here! You need help yourselves; Turbo is the last person you want to submit loyalties too!" Again, they kept coming. I was getting worried now. I was in no situation to fight back, considering they had the weapon and I didn't. I didn't know what else to do, and with Ralph, Calhoun and Felix separated from us, I considered this a dead end at this point.

A rumble echoed through the surrounding forest, accompanied by clanks like large metal wheels scrapping the ground. This sound was accompanied by another set, and then more, and soon bright lights could be seen shining down the road despite that it was in the middle of the day. The group of teens, who once were completely set on taking me and Vanellope away, suddenly made a dash in the other direction out of fear, disappearing into the brush. I was dumbfounded at first, but soon saw what they had run away from. A tank and other military vehicles quickly made their way towards us, two large trucks in particular coming to a stop right beside Vanellope and me. Two soldiers came out from the vehicle, and another man wearing a more formal sort of FBI outfit approached us. The more professional looking man eyed us for a moment, and then gave a nod to the two soldiers, "Get the program to the testing facility. The human girl needs to be questioned."

"Yes, sir." The two soldiers responded and walked over to us, one grabbing me and the other taking hold of Vanellope.

"Wait a second, what are you doing?" I asked, "Testing facility? What are you going to do to her?"

The soldier didn't answer but I could see fear overcoming Vanellope's hazel eyes. "Let me go!" She cried as she tried with all her strength to pull away. I didn't know what to do myself, but I definitely didn't want to be separated from her. I tried lashing at the soldier who had grabbed hold of me, but it was no use. "Kailey, don't let them take me!" Her plea caused me to look up at the soldier in desperation and then to the man in the suit.

"You can't separate us, she's all I have left!" I cried aloud, but despite my cries the man didn't seem to care. With a stern look still glued to his expression I was placed into one of the large military vehicles, and Vanellope was placed in the other. The trucks we were placed in then departed from the line of other military transports and down the road from whence they came.

Upon moving, I sat in the truck, though very much impatiently. The soldier next to me didn't turn to look at me not once, not even to answer me or update me on what exactly was happening. I knew my people would do whatever they could to protect themselves, but the idea of testing on programs was in itself a monstrous thing to do. I could only imagine what poor Vanellope was going through in the other vehicle. She was probably just as concerned as I was, if not even more so. I tried keeping my attention out the window in order to pinpoint where exactly we were going. The only downside to this was the forest looked familiar in all directions, and the only obvious sign of which way was which was the roads course. It didn't take too long though for the vehicle to change paths, resorting to go down a dirt road. Because of this transition from concrete to gravel, I began to feel more anxious. The truck rumbled like this on the new road for a good few minutes before I could see something different than the trees. Here, in the middle of nowhere, was a huge facility, built with extremely sturdy material that seemed to far surpass any typical building I was accustomed to seeing.

"Open the doors." The soldier driving said into a radio. Before the trucks and out the window I looked ahead, and that's when I could see the facilities massive doors open. From where we were I could see a giant garage like room behind these doors; it explained why the entrance was made so large due to the presence of tanks and other large weapons that were often used by the military. This garage like entrance greeted us quickly with bright white lights that shined from the ceiling, highlighting even the darker corners of the large room despite its sheer mass. Once we came to a stop, the soldier grabbed my arm again and escorted me out. However, as kindly as he was attempting to treat me, it didn't make much of a difference. Toward the truck that followed I could hear Vanellope hollering, and begin to take her away. I watched helplessly as she disappeared before me and into the facility with another couple of soldiers.

"This way." The man in the suit came out of the vehicle and greeted me, though his serious expression remained stuck to his face. The soldier that was escorting me pushed me to follow the man in the suit, taking me down a different hallway then the one I saw the other group take Vanellope. The inside of the facility still remained consistent with its bright artificial light, and the floors and walls all looked the same due to being made with the same material and color. The echoes of our footsteps seemed to linger as we walked too, the dissipation of sound taking longer to finish, creating a lag that made me feel as if everything was moving in slow motion. With every turn and procession further into the building, I became more disoriented and couldn't figure out which way I had initially came in.

The man in the suit stopped and looked to a doorway I had not spotted beforehand. After he inserted a code into a password lock to the right of the door, it would open with a faint whoosh, letting me know the doorway was sealed rather adequately. I wasn't prepared though when the solider shoved me harshly inside.

"Hey! What's really going on? Tell me now!" I said as I stumbled into the room backwards, looking at the soldier and the man in the suit who had both remained vague to me this entire time.

"Like I said, you're here for questioning. We'll return momentarily." With that, the door shut.

"You too, huh?" A voice spoke behind me, which caused me to turn around quickly to see a boy a year or so younger than myself. "Oi, wait a minute, you're Kailey aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am… who are you?" I answered, taking note of his British accent. I didn't really know anyone from England, considering I had never been out of the States, so it was odd that he would know who I was, unless of course he knew about me from Turbo broadcasting my picture to the entire world.

"What a pity. I've heard so much about you but I guess the recognition isn't mutual. My name is Steven, I worked with your brother on the Shiva Laser project. I'm the senior programmer of the club."

"Wait, you worked with Dannen?" I asked again, as if hearing it the first time wasn't believable enough.

"That's what I said, hm? It was a real honor working with your brother and the rest of the team. I just wish, well, things went better than they did. I was going to head to Litwak's this morning but, well, all this happened. Ironic, don't you think?" He chuckled a little bit, but despite this I could see his disappointment. "Such a disaster."

"What happened to you? How did you end up here?" I asked.

"Boy, that's quite a story." Steven nervously adjusted his glasses that sat midway on his nose as he looked to the floor, "How far back should I go? I guess I can start from the beginning. Like I mentioned I wanted to meet with you and Dannen at Litwak's this morning. I was going to bring Pierce and Harsha, two friends of Dannen and me who were also helping with the project. Harsha was the one who gathered the material we needed, and Peirce helped me considerably as my assistant programmer. Dannen was the backbone of the group, you could say… he held us together and organized everything. Anyway! I'm getting off track here. So, Pierce, Harsha and I were on our way to Litwaks. We couldn't have been more than about twenty or fifteen minutes away when, well, you know what happened. I saw those bug things come flying from the arcade. Traffic stopped immediately once it happened, which then caused everyone to start abandoning their cars. With nowhere to go the three of us evacuated the car, but by that point it was bloody chaos. Everyone was dashing and screaming, very disorienting… and that's when the Cy-bugs came after us. I wasn't paying attention enough, and within a second both members of my team were eaten. Those bugs, just _ate_ them. It happened so fast and at first I didn't realize it was real until the bugs started coming after me. I tried running but they were everywhere! I really thought that was going to be the end of it, when I saw… well, _her_."

"Her?" I asked, "Whose _her_?"

"It was Chell, the Portal 2 girl. You know, the test subject." Steven smiled when he said this, "I didn't believe it. She came out of nowhere, and got me out of there before I became overwhelmed. The amazin' thing is the Portal Gun works on any flat surfaces in the real world, unlike certain places in the game. Miles to get out of the city with her help were cut in half, and before I knew it, I was safe. She saved me."

"How did she manage to get out?" I asked, "Turbo ordered the Cy-bugs to destroy the Shiva laser and the arcade!"

"I would assume certain characters could have escaped, based on their talents. As you know, Chell was always a fighter, an arrogant one at that. I guess that's what helped her escape in time. But now, I don't know what to think. Those soldiers took you in because you were caught with a program, right? The same thing happened to us. I thought they were taking us to some kind of safe house, but instead we were separated. The military is going to try and study the programs they find."

"What?" I gasped, "They can't do that! We need their help, not take them captive!"

"I've been trying to figure out a way to get out of here and find her." Steven crossed his arms over his chest in thought, "But these doors are shut tight. If only I had my phone, I could try and hack the system."

"They took my friend Vanellope too." I added, "I can't allow them to hurt her. Maybe we can come up with an ambush? When they come to question us we'll take them out."

"Ha, you're funny." Steven chuckled, "You really think a skinny Brit like myself and some doe-eyed girl is going to be enough to successfully take out military trained men?"

Steven was right. There was no way I could take out a soldier; I couldn't even wrestle my brother. "Then what?" I asked, growing concerned, "The longer we wait the worse things get."

"I know." Steven placed his hands on his forehead and closed his eyes, "Ugh, if only I had my phone."

"Well, I guess we're going to need to wait until they get back then." I started, "Did you by any chance see my brother when you were heading to Litwak's?"

Steven lifted his hand from his head and looked at me, though I saw his shallow blue eyes become filled with even more despair than he was already in. "No, actually." He said, "I thought he was with you."

I felt my heart thunk again. "So, he really didn't make it, did he?" I felt my eyes try and fill with tears, but I held them back with all my power. "I didn't see him go, but I assumed the Cy-bugs got him. He was right at the laser when they came out. Turbo had me, so I couldn't save him. I couldn't do _anything_."

"Turbo? That sounds familiar. You mean that racer from Turbo Time? That's who that big Candy Bug was? I thought they well, King Candy from that other game were different characters!"

Apparently Steven knew the arcade and its history enough to differentiate between King Candy and Turbo. "They're the same." I stated, "Programs are smarter than what we thought. They're not only sentient but Turbo in particular became aware of code and changed himself. I don't think turning into a Cy-brid was his idea though. I think it happened on accident before I ever set foot in that arcade."

"Wow, that's- that's just amazin'." Steven grinned, "Who would have known. And now Turbo wants to take over the world with those bugs as an army. Too bad he can't even race anymore, seems kinda ironic. Unless, you know, he finds some giant car, but even then he doesn't have feet, so-."

Steven was cut off when a sudden siren began to go off. Red lights flashed in the hallways as the door we were held in unlocked. From the doorway I could hear people running, and passing the door quickly were soldiers and handfuls of men and women dressed in white lab coats_. "Evacuate the facility. Specimen has escaped lab boundaries!"_ A woman's voice called urgently on the intercom, _"Evacuate the facility, this is not a drill!"_

After the wave of people in the hallway passed us, I decided to head towards the door that had unlocked by apparent default. I could hear Steven trot behind me as we both looked out into the hallway. "What do we do?" I asked, "There is nobody out here. Maybe we can find Vanellope and Chell now."

"Suppose we could." Steven said, "I wonder what the ruckus is about."

"Never mind that, I need to find my friend!" I stepped into the hallway and took a look both directions. Each side of the hallway looked so familiar that I wasn't quite sure which way I should start.

"Oi, I really wish I had my phone." Steven said again. "But I remember I came in this way and everyone was heading that direction anyway, so that has to be the exit." He pointed to the left, "Let's go right, maybe we'll come across Chell and Vanellope that way."

"Sure." I responded. I was placing all my faith in Steven at this point. I wasn't very good with navigation whatsoever, so any help was exactly what I needed. The two of us left the room and started down the right like he suggested. Towards this direction we were led to a high ceiling lobby with a bridge that led straight across to another hallway. To our sides and below us was a completely different floor. The drop down looked incredibly high, but I could see a series of rooms below, each door having been opened due to the evacuation drill. With the place empty, the siren going off and red lights flashing every two seconds, I began to wonder what happened. I had hoped that Chell or Vanellope managed to escape, but those odds seemed very slim.

"Hurry this way, we can't waste time." Steven said as he began across the metal bridge. I followed quickly, leaving behind my thoughts as we entered another door directly across the hallway and into another large room, though this time remaining as a single floor. Half of the room was encased in, what I assumed, a bullet proof glass. The area behind the glass was highlighted with more intense artificial lights, and towards the back were many machines and lab items. It was the sight of game upgrades sitting at the front most part of the glass on individual stands, which surprised me however. All in a row, sitting like precious stones on museum displays, were very familiar items you would normally find during game play. There was the giant mushroom from Super Mario, a floating golden coin, and many more down the course of the display area.

"Whoa, would you look at that!" Steven cried, "This is amazin', just look at this!"

"I know, I see it." I responded, "What are they doing in the real world though?"

"They must have been dispersed through the Shiva laser before it was destroyed. I'd imagine the military wouldn't just study game characters if there were power ups like this. Maybe we can put some of these things to use."

"You mean take them?" I turned to look at him, "But, we don't even know how to use them. How do you know they would work?"

"Of course they'd work!" Steven responded with enthusiasm, and without me rushed over to the glass rooms opening. I decided to follow, and once inside I could see Steven eyeing each and every game item with intent and thought. Within a few moments he picked up three items, one in particular the Portal Gun itself and another in which he placed on himself quickly. "There we go!" Steven chuckled, "This is an Omni-Tool, ya know the one from Mass Effect. I can use this to hack the systems here in the facility. I just need to figure out how to calibrate it with the real world technology."

"And that one?" I asked, pointing to the third stick object he had picked up.

"Oh, that one I want you to hang onto. If I'm not mistaken it's a 5th Generation Light Cycle."

"Say what?"

"Come on, you know. The bikes they use in that Tron game."

"You sure know your games then, don't you?" I smiled a little as I took the stick, finding it rather amusing how knowledgeable he was about video games. I would have figured he'd know what he was talking about anyway, considering he was the genius programmer that recreated the Shiva laser based on what little blue prints the team found.

"Now, I wonder how I get this Omni-Tool to work." Steven immediately drifted his attention from me and to the object that was now on his arm. As his fingers swept through the item, I decided to take a look around at the items I was familiar with. One though, got my attention the most. It was towards the back, hovering above the platform like it would in the game world, and making circular turns as it floated there. Its symbol was like a lightning bolt around a sphere, and its colors were of an orange hue.

"Is this, the Varia Suit?" I asked aloud, as my eyes widened and my fingers wiggled. I was always a fangirl of Metroid, and seeing this item for myself brought back all those feelings of playing my favorite series. I wonder if I could take it with us and figure out how to work it?

My hands drifted towards the item in intent to pick it up. Once my fingers wrapped around it, however, was when light started to encase my body and lift me into the air. "The hell? Steven!" I cried, being taken completely off guard as the item disappeared from my fingers and dispersed into the light that was surrounding me. I felt myself being covered, and before I knew it I was _in_ the Varia Suit. My vision was overtaken with the suits visor, and through the lightly tinted green screen before me, I saw Steven rush toward me. The visor started to give me more information as it loaded, like a radar and a health bar.

"No way!" Steven gasped like a fanboy himself, "You were able to activate the Varia Suit!"

"I thought only Samus could wear it!" I asked through the helmet, "I don't know about this, I'm already starting to feel weird. Get me out!"

"Hey, hey! Just give it some time." Steven said as he scaled the suit down, reaching his hand out to touch my arms. "The clash between the game world and the real world is filled with surprises. I suppose any woman could wear the Varia suit, considered it was programmed to be worn by one. I'd just be careful activating certain features, like the Morph Ball."

"Oh good God!" I cried. I thought about consequences with dealing with the Morph Ball. Samus Aran, Metroid's main character, was programmed specifically for the suit, and she was after all almost superhuman in every way. The idea of being twisted into half my size in the Morph Ball sounded scary. I couldn't even stretch far enough to touch my toes anymore, so it was the last of my desires.

"Can you walk in it? How does it feel?" Steven asked again.

"Yeah, I can move. It's heavy though." I responded, though my eyes quickly darted from Steven to the radar that was on my visor. A yellow dot was suddenly approaching us, directly across the way and into the solid wall. "Er, Steven." I stuttered a little, "We're not alone."

Before he could ask me what I was seeing, the sirens that had been going off, along with the red flashing lights abruptly stopped. The power went out with a huff, and following came utter silence. Some backup lights came on in the place of the lights that had gone out, but it was nowhere near as bright as the original power. It was in this silence, where I could hear what was going on behind the wall. Pounding overtook the room, sending these waves of sound through the facility in long echoes. With every pound I could hear the wall shake, then dent outward, and violently burst open. Pieces of wall and metal flew outward from the hole, and there, standing in the newly created entrance, was a Cy-bug.

"What the bloody hell?" Steven cried, "They brought a Cy-bug in here to study? Has everyone gone mad?"

"No questions, run!" I grabbed his arm and started running; though found that the suit seemed to put more strain on my muscles due to requiring more effort to carry so much extra weight. Immediately upon moving I noticed my heart rate increase, not particularly because I was scared but because of the strain of carrying the armor and my breathing became harsher as I moved. I felt a tingle crawl up my back as I felt the eyes of the Cy-bugs on us, and despite that I was running as fast as I could I didn't think I was moving quickly enough. I heard the Cy-bug screech behind us as we went through door, which made me let out a screech myself. "Can you lock the door?" I said as Steven shut the metal doors behind us.

"You really think a locked door is going to hold back that thing?" Steven asked, as he peeked out the small window, eyeing the outside. I could see his blue irises jumping from one corner of the room to another, but he didn't seem all too concerned. "It's checking out the items." Steven whispered to me, "I think it's not after us as of now, maybe this will give us a head start."

Steven turned from the door and hunkered down below on one knee, and turned his attention to the code lock like most of the other doors in the facility had. Lifting his left arm, he directed the Omni-Tool he obtained to make contact with the computer lock. I saw the orange hue of the Omni-Tool light up, and like a hologram, a 3D map like projection illuminated from its center. I then heard the doors lock with a quick clank.

"Actually pretty easy to use." Steven chuckled, "I just downloaded the map of the facility and locked the door."

"Easy to use?" I attempted to whisper this back but it came out a little louder than I thought. Steven lifted a finger to his lips while raising a brow to try and calm me down. "Sorry," I managed to settle my voice, "I guess I'm just not used to all of this."

"Dannen always said that the Siva laser was going to change the world." Steven responded as he sat up and backed away from the door, "I guess we got more than we bargained for."

"I guess so." I responded, thinking about my brother always left images spiraling through my mind about what he looked like just before I went through the portal myself into the game world. Dannen had a smile on his face, a happy and exited one.

"Hey, we need to get going." Steven spoke up and shook my arm a little and started walking. This caused the imagine of my brother in my mind to break like glass. I shook my head slightly and started down the hall with Steven, attempting to leave those negative feelings behind me. Though no matter how hard I tried to steer my mind away from my brother's face that lingered in my consciousness I felt like stopping and giving up. It was like I was at mental standstill, constantly trying to pick up the pieces of the puzzle that were the memories of him. I didn't even know what I was doing. I didn't even know why I was trying. The only reason I wanted to find Vanellope was because I didn't want to be alone. I wasn't any use to anyone; even Steven here was far more knowledgeable and adequate than I was.

"Okay, okay." Steven started muttering to himself as he kept his eyes down on the map on his Omni-Tool, frequently looking upward to make sure he wasn't about to bump into anything, "We must be close. The holding area should be down this way."

I had to admit, I was surprised. Steven's navigation skills, on top of his already prowess knowledge of technology, was more help than I could have ever asked for. Then again, I suppose that was just because I lacked so many things in that field. While driving I was never the one to navigate, I had to have someone tell me where to go. When it came to tech stuff, the smallest thing I could do was some HTML, though even that proved difficult if it wasn't already in a familiar format.

"There, this room!" Steven suddenly shouted, which caught me off guard. He perked up immediately and trotted over to another set of large doors and quickly began to mess with the codes to open it. Once the door opened, he rushed in without another word and began looking down sets of locked cells that made the place look like a prison then it did a facility. "Chell, where are you?" He continued walking down the aisles, "Oh goodness, there you are! Are you all right? I'll get you out in a jiff."

While I saw him get Chell out I suddenly heard a familiar voice call to me, "Kailey, is that you?" Vanellope asked from one of the cells, "Where did you get that bulky suit thing?"

"Vanellope!" I shouted and rushed over to her. "We'll get you out in no time, just hang on."

"There are a few others in here." Vanellope said, "Let them out too."

"Sure thing," I couldn't help but smile, "Once we get out of here we're going to find Ralph and the others."

"Kailey, I'm going to open all the cells, so stay back so the doors don't hit you." Steven said. He began to bring up the Omni-Tool again and I could see him hacking the system. It was only about thirty seconds of his time for the doors to all swing open, letting out Chell, Vanellope and a Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Thanks!" Sonic exclaimed, "That sure was annoying… anyways, bye!"

"Wait a second!" I cried, stretching my hand out in order to get his attention but the blue guy vanished within a second and disappeared into the facility, most likely attempting to get out himself. The Pikachu pretty much did exactly the same thing and rushed out of the cell room as fast as it could. I tried face palming myself, but found my helmet stopped my hand quickly, causing a small clank sound. "How the heck are we going to make any progression if we can't even team up?" I asked.

Steven shrugged as he walked up beside me with Chell, who now had her Portal Gun in her grasp, "We got two team mates now, so it wasn't a total loss." He smiled as he lifted his arms in a way that showcased Chell. The dark haired woman in the white Aperture tank top remained silent, as her facial expression stayed soft and neutral. Having played Portal 2 myself before, I always knew Chell was the silent protagonist type, though upon meeting her I didn't realize how strange it was that she didn't acknowledge me.

"So, are you really a mute or do you just keep quiet because you want to?" I asked.

"She's actually a mute." Steven intervened, "I've taught her some Sign Language, and so that's how she's been communicating with me."

"Oh wow." I responded. I had taken a semester ASL in college, though I wouldn't call myself fluent in it. I only knew some greetings, colors and other basic things. I couldn't help but be a little jealous of Chell and how apparently she had learned enough Sign Language to talk to Steven in less than a day. I suppose it was part of her programming to be able to learn quickly, after all her sole purpose in the game was to be able to navigate through portals.

"Well you guys," Vanellope started as she stuck her hands in her jackets pocket, "Don'tcha think it's about time we get going? I mean, the power did abruptly go out."

"Oh God, you're right." Steven seemed to jump from his giddiness upon finding Chell and looked over at me with concern, "Er, you don't think a single Cy-bug will be a big deal for us, right?"

"Why are you asking _me_?" I cringed a little from under my helmet, "I've never actually taken out one of them before!"

"Oh, well, I assumed you have, since you mentioned you escaped Turbo and all. I figured you'd have at least killed a couple."

"Are you kidding? The only thing I know how to do is run from those things!"

"You guys, shut up!" Vanellope hollered, "We can't debate if we can kill the Cy-bugs, we're just wasting time. We need to get out of here!"

Ironically, at that very moment, another set of sirens began to go off accompanied by a large sigh of power, though instead of red flashing lights green flashing lights began to engulf the facility. The woman's voice that had announced herself on the intercom came up again, though this time her voice was weary and she was wheezing, "I'm activating- a pur-purification unit. The base will self destruct in T-minus ten minutes. The Cy-bug has multiplied and eggs are starting to hatch. Those left inside the facility need to evacuate immediately. I'm so sorry. God help us all."

"The hell?!" I shouted as my heart began to pound, "We need to get out of here!" I could tell everyone was thinking exactly the same thing as me, because all of our eyes widened with sudden alert, although Chell kept her reaction a bit more submerged then the rest of us. With a quick dash we all left the way came, Steven leading us with the help of the Omni-Tool. Though it didn't take too long until we could hear the sound of Cy-bugs screeching in the hallways, this sound growing louder as we made it close to the entrance. I knew they were all around us, in the walls, the air vents, and in rooms, because my radar began to spike with an abundance of yellow dots. Being surrounded like this without actually seeing them made the anticipation of something popping out in front of us all the more terrifying. Though despite this we strove forward without incident, that was until we reached the room we had initially found the game items in. The room had been completely demolished. Glass was strewn everywhere, and most of the game items were scattered on the floor now. Among the now dozens of Cy-bug eggs instead of just one hole from before, there was another, but this time it was absolutely huge, at least three times the original size of the other hole. Through the hole we could see a path had been made, and among the zapping wires and shards of wall and metal I could hear a deep toned growl.

We all remained extremely silent in that wide open room, gazing down the hole as we watched something begin to crawl out. A large green light seemed to blink as the enemy came forth, though once it reached our side of the hole we could see it was the Cy-bug from before, only now having grown huge. I quickly thought of reasons why it had gotten so big, and that's when I remembered the giant mushroom from the Mario game. It must have eaten that mushroom, which is why it was so gigantic.

Staring upward at the beast we weren't quite sure what to do next. The Cy-bugs heavy breathing indicated it was staring us down, and at any minute it would launch to attack. "Kailey, do something!" Steven pushed me forward, now I suddenly becoming the one facing the giant Cy-bug.

"I can't do anything!" I responded, "Are you kidding me?"

"You're wearing the _bloody_ Varia Suit!" Steven hollered back. I could see time was running out now, and I knew that I had to do something. The Cy-bug seemed to react to my sudden stance, taking its own many legs and spreading them side by side so that it was more stabilized on the ground. Once the Cy-bug settled itself its jaw shot open and it let out another loud and terrifying screech.

I honestly didn't know what I was doing, but I felt a trigger of some sort at my right hand where the arm canon was located. I wrapped my fingers around it and pulled, this reacting the power beam. I began shooting at the Cy-bug once I became comfortable with how the gun worked, though these shots didn't do much of anything. Instead of hitting the Cy-bug it only bounced off of it, every once in a while when the beam hit its mouth or eyes did it take damage. But this wasn't enough, and time was ticking.

"Try something else!" Vanellope called from behind me. I began to panic as I continued to look into the Cy-bugs emerald lighted gaze. It was so big that I didn't know what, if any of the Varia Suits abilities would take it out. "I think you can use the Super Smash! Do it now, quit hesitating!"

Vanellope fussing at me, accompanied by the hint of the Super Smash ringed a bell. I remember playing as Samus in Super Smash Brothers many times, and vividly remembered her overpowering Super Smash. If it was part of the game it had to be programmed in the suit somewhere by default. "Super Smash?" I muttered, "How the heck does that work?"

Surprisingly, once I stated the move, my visor popped up with information regarding the Super Smash attack and then set it in place. All I had to do now was pull the trigger one more time. "Okay, here goes nothing!" I yelled with anticipation and pulled the lock on the trigger. I was absolutely not ready for the sheer mass of power that erupted from my arm canon at that very moment. I felt so many G-forces on my body, that my feet began to scrape the ground and send me slightly backwards. The light from the canons Smash filled the entire room and encased the Cy-bug, evaporating it and the walls behind it like fire melting ice. Once the power shot ended, the G-forces lifted from me and the suit began to fall apart and off my body. The weight of the suit upon lifting off of me felt like a big sigh of relief, but at the same time I felt bare without it. I already felt significantly lighter, and even a little stronger from having worn it, though once I tried moving my legs I felt light and rather cramped.

"Let's get going!" Steven called, and even though I was still trying to regain myself he pulled me with the others to the next room. It was only then, after my huge Super Smash, that I realized that destroying the Cy-bug had some consequences. The metal bridge that led to the garage and our way out was completely obliterated, leading to the two story drop below us. We all came to an abrupt stop as we looked down and then across the way; time was ticking still.

"What now?" I cried, as I placed my hands again into my hair, "There is no way we can get across in time."

Steven smiled as if he was proud, "You forgot about Chell didn't you?" He chuckled, "We can get across no problem."

It seemed Chell and Steven were pretty much in sync, because she immediately stepped forward and turned around and shot a blue portal on the wall right above the door. After that, she gave Steven a nod, and _jumped off the ledge_.

I was so absent minded that I gave off a quick cry, though upon watching her fall I saw her go with such fluent grace that my fear melted to amazement. Chell pulled the trigger to the orange portal at the ground directly below her, and once she went through the blue portal she had firstly set spat her out, and she was flown across the deep hole and to the other side successfully.

"Oh yeah!" Steven cried as he lifted his arms in the air as if riding a roller coaster and jumped himself, ending up flying through the orange opening and out the blue portal above the door and across the long drop to the other side. My mouth dropped open when I realized it was my turn and I took a deep breath.

"C'mon on, we'll go through it together, Princess Mope." Vanellope said with a smile as she took my hand again. I steered my eyes from looking at the drop and to the little girl, who had proven to be so much braver than me throughout this entire ordeal. Despite my doubt about this entire thing, from the beginning when I first entered the game world and to now, I thought, if she can do it why not me? With a nod I agreed to jump with her, and that's when we both leapt from the edge. The fall itself scared me as we came real quick to the ground, though the orange doorway caught us and we were flung out of the blue portal just as we entered it. I felt gravity change from our direct fall to crossing the deep hole toward the other side. Throughout the entire ordeal I hadn't realized I was holding my breath.

Landing harshly, but unscathed, we were only given a moment to regain ourselves before we had to keep moving. The green lights above us continued to flash, helping us find our way to our exit, accompanied by the eerie siren that overtook the entire building. Though in between the beats of light and past the screams of the siren, I could still hear Cy-bugs. Their sounds could be heard even more so after my Super Smash, and I realized it must have been the bright light that caused them to become more active. Although I didn't have the Varia Suit's radar anymore I knew they were still all over the place.

"Quick, this way!" Steven yelled with urgency, and we made it through the opening gates of the facility and outward into the forest. Once outside the scream of the sirens became more distant and muffled, being replaced by the sounds of our running footsteps and heavy and exhausted breathing. This silent run went on for what it seemed like an eternity, when within an instant, it happened. An explosion overtook the entire base, engulfing the structure and whatever was surrounding it with fire and causing it to collapse into the earth. I flung Vanellope and myself to the side and behind a large stone, losing sight immediately of Chell and Steven as the dust and debris of the blast filled my sight. The forest became filled with a smoky fog, and instantly as my sight dwindled to a minimum so did my hearing. I heard a strong ring in my ears, like thousands of crickets going off at once. I felt myself collapse onto the ground from the sudden bombardment of my senses, and all I could hang onto was little Vanellope who seemed to be struggling just as I was. That ringing lasted for a good few moments, then returning like a slow drift, real sounds came to me, such as cracking flames and indenting metal and falling structures clashing onto the ground. I had to take a moment to sit there; staring up at the foggy sky my mind seemed to go blank and numb.

"Kailey! Vanellope!" I heard Steven call out to us, "Are you all right? Where are you?"

I managed to move when I heard him, helping Vanellope up as well. I poked my head from around the stone and attempted to look through the fog, and just across a couple yards I could see Chell and Steven hiding behind another stone and sets of trees. "I'm here. We're alive!" I cried back as I waved my hand. Steven and Chell walked quickly over to us, and we all gathered around each other in a circle.

"What do we do now? Do you have any ideas?" Steven asked me. It took me by surprise that he was now asking me what to do. I was a bit dumbfounded at first, but I tried to let out the first and only idea that popped into my mind.

"Well, we need to find the other guys I was with." I started, whipping my forehead with my sleeve, "Wreck-It Ralph, Fix-It Felix and Sergeant Calhoun were initially with me, and I'm sure they want to find Vanellope and I just as much as we need to find them."

"That's great!" Steven said, "See, our team is coming together quite nicely, yeah? Okay, that sounds like a plan. We'll group back together and try to find a way to fix everything."

"For one thing I have no idea where they are." I stated, trying not to destroy his hopes but also attempting to be honest, "And the only possible way we can fix everything is if we created a giant beacon that can zap and kill all the Cy-bugs, but that's impossible with real world technology."

"Oh, well… that's too bad." Steven lifted a finger to his chin as his smile vanished, "Let's just go step by step with this then. Play by ear, if you will. We'll find the others then we'll work from there."

We all nodded with agreement and started a direction that wasn't completely covered in parts and debris. Once everyone seemed to move along without so much as a blink toward where we came from, I couldn't help but stop and look behind me. The smoke was still thick but I could see the base now. It was absolutely nothing like it was before. The once promising architecture of military design was turned to dust, and the appearance of what it even was supposed to be was now a part of the earth. I was traumatized from what just happened, but it was despite that in which I felt lips slowly curl into a soft grin. I may have been covered in ash and I may have smelled like a campfire but I made it out of there, alive and well. I would have never guessed I was capable of such feats.


	5. Chapter 5

It was among the silence of the forest that I begun to realize how out of place everything was. It wasn't that it changed physically, no it was quite the same in those terms. The trees remained tall and sturdy and high above rays of what little sunlight that made it past the clouds filtered through the leaves and to the ground below. The scenery was quiet. Too quiet. I now could plainly see how devoid it had become. I recalled often sitting in my backyard throughout the years, and even there among the many houses of the place I called home I could see an abundance of life. The birds always sang for me, but here and now, their song had been brought to a deathly silence. It was strange to be out here, among nature and away from the city, but without the tranquil accompaniment of what really made the real world beautiful. It was like a painting with no color, an orchestra with no sound or an ocean without waves. Among our procession, I realized how awful this was. I had taken it for granted for so long, concerned only with my daily routines and duties, and never thought to once stop and look around me. I dreamed of adventure, but now that I was on one, I didn't get that sense of awe-inspiring and romantic boldness that often came with what was within stories.

I honestly had no idea how long we began our procession blindly into the world. The smell of smoke still had a very faint linger in the air even after we made it further enough from the explosion site to escape the clouded smog that it had created. The amazing thing was, as far and as long as we had been walking we had not come across a single Cy-bug. The lack of having something to fear turned my attention to the unknown and even to myself. I often checked myself, my arms, my legs anything so to know that I wasn't hurt. Although I was alive and breathing, I still couldn't shake the fact that I had actually overcome such a difficult obstacle. Knowing Vanellope, Chell and Steven were with me though, is what made me feel more confident. I would have never pulled that trigger if it wasn't for them nagging at me. I probably wouldn't have even jumped through that portal if Vanellope wasn't so patient with me.

"It's getting late." Steven said as he looked upward. It had been cloudy for so long that I didn't even see a difference. "We need to find a place to stop soon and rest up."

"I hope you're not considering setting up camp." Vanellope said, "Any sort of fire in the middle of the night would be a dead giveaway of where we are."

"She's right." I frowned as I agreed with her, "Cy-bugs are very sensitive to anything like that."

"Oi, this just keeps getting harder and harder." Steven signed as he placed a hand on his face softly and closed his eyes. He was obviously tired like the rest of us.

"We can make it." I bluntly stated, though this fell from my lips quite against my will. "You know, I miss my warm bed, my shower and my computer. But we're going to get through this. After all, if not us then who?" I had to try and remember what I had just said, it was like another part of me that had been buried in myself was trying to rise up and attempt to comfort everyone. For the most part I worried that I couldn't make it not a single step further, but for some reason my voice pushed out opposite statements. "Yeah, we'll make it."

"Maybe there's a cave or somethin' we can go into." Vanellope said, "Some secret hole in a rock even. I lived practically my entire life under Diet Cola Mountain, so it could work."

"We haven't seen caves at all since we've been walking." Steven stated, "I'm not sure, it looks like we're just going to need to keep our eyes open. Something is bound to show up." After saying this he looked down at his Omni-Tool, his fingers quickly turning around as he made searches into it. He didn't bother saying anything, but from what I could tell he was scoping out maps.

"Wait, does that thing get freaking GPS?" I asked with a raised brow.

"Oh, oh yes it does!" Steven responded, though just barely. His attention seemed to be somewhere lost in between what he was doing and us. "I just figured it out. I had to connect it to a satellite."

"Good lord, you're controlling a satellite?" I placed a hand on my cheek as I tried looking closer at the Omni-Tool, completely unaware on how on earth he would work the thing, let alone hook it to a satellite. "You're some kind of mad genius, I swear."

Steven chuckled, apparently flattered of what I had just said, "I guess you could say that," he managed to get out through his grin, "Computer programming and well, technology in general has always amazed me. It's what has gotten us this far as a species after all. Oh, oh would you look at that!"

"What is it?" The pitch of my voice heightened due to Steven's sudden exclamation, "What do you see?"

"Somebody lives just over these hills. The maps telling me there is a ranch just through those trees. Maybe we can see if somebody's home?"

"Would anyone even be home?"

"Hm, you're right. But it wouldn't hurt to check, huh?"

"Well what are we waiting for!" Vanellope finally broke into the conversation, "I'm tired! And hungry for that matter. I wanted to ask Kailey if she had any of those chocolates she stashed in her boot, but melted and smashed chocolate doesn't sound very appetizing."

"Oh boy," I couldn't help but let loose a nervous chuckle, "I forgot about those."

In the mix process of power walking and looking down at the Omni-Tool, Steven stretched ahead just enough to get past the trees. Following enough in order to stay on his tail, we were soon greeted by a clearing in the woods, leading to a wide open field, and in its distance and as far as the eye could see this stretch of land continuing for a good few miles. It looked like a good distance a ways, but I could see another country highway slithering like a snake over the grasses in the distance. The most wonderful sight, however, was the single story home that sat just beside the clearing of trees. It looked like a comfortable home; painted white it seemed to fit rather well with the tranquil acreage surrounding it.

I found I couldn't remain standing there for long. It was breaking away from the woods and finding this familiarity that gave me a sense of relief, and as I got closer to the front door, I felt myself about to finally topple over from exhaustion. I suppose I was getting ahead of myself, sort of like how you are ready to land on the couch after a hard workout before you even make it to it. I felt my eyes tearing up slightly, and my lips wiggle from happiness.

"Who the hell is out there?" A voice screamed from the house. Accompanying this scream soon after the front door slammed wide open, and standing there was an elder man with a rifle in his hand. Once his eyes landed on us, the riffles barrel stared bluntly in our direction, and I found my sudden giddiness slip away in exchange for distraught. "Are you all a bunch of those monsters? Get going! Or I'll pump your guts full of lead!"

I raised my hands as fast as I could to show I wasn't of any harm, and the rest of the group followed with my example, "Whoa! We're not monsters." I said, "I'm just a person, like you. So is my friend here. The others are… well-"

"Monsters that's what! The same thing as those bug things! I don't want em here, get em on out!"

"No, no!" I felt my eyes get wide, "They're not going to hurt you. They're friends! They aren't like the Cy-bugs."

"Is that what you're calling those demons?" The man settled his voice just a tad, but it was still loud, "I don't care if they're Cy-bugs, people like or what. They're all damned vida' game characters! I've cursed stupid vida' games ever since they came out! They've brought nothing but trouble! First destroying our brains and now they've started destroying the damned planet!"

"Hey, look you!" Vanellope stepped forward with narrow eyes, "We didn't come all this way to argue! Cy-bugs are bad, we're good. We're trying to figure this out even! So you gotta trust us."

The man didn't drop the riffle just yet. I could see his dark eyes switch from one of us, to the other, as if attempting to decide what he was going to do.

"Please, we're tired…" I said with a sigh, "I've been doing nothing but running for the past two days, and just recently escaped a giant explosion. I haven't eaten anything but smashed chocolates and I'm covered in ash. You have to believe us."

I saw his lip cringe for a second, his gaze still flashing between his targets. It was a moment afterward, in which he finally settled the riffle down. "I guess you folks don't mean any harm. You can come on in. I have a chicken baking in the oven and some rice on the stove." Turning around he would step into the house, stretching his arm out from the inside to hold to the door open. I took it as my cue that it was okay to go inside at this point, so I took the first step towards the house, leading everyone behind me.

"Make yourselves at home. There is a shower if you want to clean up, and a washing machine and dryer so you can clean those clothes. The food should be ready in about an hour." The elder man's voice was attempting to become more kindly, but he still had the vibe that he didn't trust us. I didn't know this was simply because he was a grouchy old guy or he was just acting this way due to the situation. But the sound of a shower was absolutely the most perfect thing I could think about. I normally wouldn't go a single day without showering and washing my hair, and it had been way past my curfew for that. "Thanks, I think I'll do that." I mentioned, and disappeared into the hallway.

* * *

Immediately as I left the bathroom the smell of dinner struck my nose. The air here felt fresh and calming against my damp hair, and even something as simple as wearing my now clean clothes made me fall back into that familiar evening comfort I was so used to having every day of the week for the past twenty-two years of my life.

I began to hear the chattering of plates against the table and chairs being moved around, and that's when I knew it was about time to head towards the kitchen. The smell of that baked chicken grew more intense as I proceeded down the hallway, already making my growling stomach begin hungering more than it already was. Turning the corner I could see the old man take a big spoon from a silver pot and scoop a handful of steamy rice and plop it onto one of the porcelain plates. Everyone was seated already, eyeing the food as if it were a campfire amongst cavemen. I felt my mouth start to water myself, so I quickly took a seat amongst them, joining in the silent stare. Once the plates were set and the food was right in front of us, we started digging in like a bunch of desperate fools. Chell and the old guy were really the only two that had restraint and poise.

"By the way, the names Aaron. Sorry I didn't introduce myself before. I was contemplating kill you after all."

"Nice to know." Steven said though a full mouth, becoming a bit anxious once that had been said.

"Well, thank you for letting us stay." I started, attempting to break the ice further, "I'm Kailey, that's Steven over there, Chell and Vanellope."

"Kailey?" Aaron asked, his voice slightly returning to its intimidating tone, "I thought you looked familiar. You're that gal that's been all over the television."

I coughed a little as I slanted my eyes from him and to my plate, "Yeah… I guess that's still going on, huh?"

"So you're the one that damned demon wants. That vida' game characters been talking about you all over the television. You're a wanted woman, you know."

I placed a hand on my forehead, attempting to shield myself from his apparently angry stare, "Yeah… that's me." I said through my teeth.

"I don't get the weird gamer talk, but you're apparently a User? First User? Whatever the hell that's supposta' mean. From what I've gathered you must be the one that caused all of this. Do you realize what has happened? What you've done?"

I raised my head up and looked straight at him, "Sir, with all due respect you can't blame me for this."

"None of this would be happening if you hadn't gone and did what you did!" His voice raised a little, "I don't know what compelled you, but lettin' loose a bunch of monsters was all your fault. My granddaughter was in the city when all this chaos broke loose. She never came home."

"What?" I asked, "I am so sorry… I didn't know you had a granddaughter."

"That's her up there." Aaron pointed to a photo on the wall of a young woman, perhaps a few years older than me. Her hair was full and curly and she had light brown skin just like her grandfathers. "Her name's Rachel. She just graduated the academy. This was her first month on duty as a police officer."

I could tell he was growing saddened by the look of his face. I didn't know what to say. I had the feeling this was the kind of man who wouldn't change his mind, regardless of what you told him. I felt my heart sink. Did I really do this? Was I really becoming the one thousands of people were suddenly blaming for all of this?

"If anything I should be the one to take blame." Steven finally intervened, "I was the one that created the machine that crossed the arcade world to the real world."

"In that case it's both of your faults." Aaron stated bluntly without care, "All I know is I'm not going to see Rachel ever again. That monster you let loose is having those Cy-bugs, or whatever you call em' destroy everything. People that aren't takin' his shit are being killed left from right and those stupid enough to agree to help him are becoming slaves."

The table got silent again. The sound of forks scooping across plates seemed to become more hesitant, and I could see Vanellope eating timidly from the awkward conversation. Chell continued her silent and proper poise and continued as if it was all no big deal, making the rest of us look like we were moving in slow motion. I swallowed rather harshly, unsure of what else I could possibly say to this guy, so I hunkered my head and started to try and eat again. Although I was on the spot I wasn't going to pass up a meal just because I was uncomfortable. At times like this I had no idea when or if I was going to eat a home cooked meal like this again, so I tried pushing the conversation away. But of course, that silence came back.

Aaron gulped down his food quickly and without really even looking at us he walked over to the skink and placed the dish inside. "There is a couch in the livin' room and two spare bedrooms down the hall. Feel free to use em'." His tone was very monotone at this point, "I'm going to hit the hay myself. Just don't be snoopin' and getting' into trouble."

"Thank you…" I tried to mumble this but it came out quieter then I expected. His heavy work boots stomped on the light wooden floors and down the hall until the sound of a door shut, leaving the rest of us at the table in a sudden but rather pleasant relief.

"Jeez, what was with him?" Vanellope finally spoke up, "Talk about not having manners for guests, sheesh."

"He's just scared." I answered, "Everyone is."

"You're not seriously taking up for him? He was being mean to you."

"No, he's right. Some of this partially is my fault. I could have-."

"Coulda, shoulda, woulda, Kailey." Vanellope's voice heightened a bit as her hazel eyes stared at me, "You and Steven need to quit this, my fault stuff, and focus on the now."

"Yeah, I know." I found my lips pouting a little; I felt like I wanted to slap myself, "We'll figure it all out."

Upon saying that Steven finished his plate and took a stand. Chell had apparently already been finished by this time and had simply been sitting there. "Er, I guess Chell and I will sit on the porch." Steven mumbled a little as he took Chell's hand and walked off, leaving Vanellope and I now the only people in the room.

"Obviously you can't blame yourself." Vanellope spoke up again, "You, Steven and your brother were only trying to make gaming more fun. I mean- imagine how it's going to be when everything is figured out? A world of gamers and characters alike living together!" Her hands raised in the air a bit as she explained this, emphasizing what she was getting at.

I smiled and couldn't help but let loose a soft chuckle, "That's how it was always supposed to be. That's how my brother would have wanted it." I tried blinking my eyes a couple times to rid of some oncoming tears.

"Well make it happen, you'll see. Turbo's got nothing on us! He may be a big, strong Cy-brid now, but hey, you got us! And we've got you!"

My eyes flickered up to look at her and again I felt myself wanting to giggle. "Yeah, you got me. I scream and run around a lot." Avoiding self inflicting sarcasm was enviable. I simply couldn't compare myself to her or Chell or even Steven. Vanellope had been the sweetest person ever since I was separated from my brother. In some ways her sarcastic personality reminded me of him. I was beginning to realize how lucky I was to have a friend like her. Not to mention I had other friends out there looking for me.

I managed to finish my plate and stood up to bring it to the sink that was already piling with dishes. Although I'd never normally do chores on a whim, standing there looking at the mess reminded me of home after my mom would cook. This familiarity brought me to grab the sponge and the container of soap sitting to the left and start washing, all the while gazing out the window and onto the porch. Chell and Steven were sitting there, among the oncoming twilight that had apparently snuck up on me without my knowing. They were watching each other intently, moving their hands before themselves gracefully, and communicating in silence through Sign Language. Steven mouthed his words as he signed, but sometimes vowels would slip out, going from high to low pitches as he did so. I watched Chell's pale eyed gaze ponder over him intently, and it was upon looking at her reactions to what he was saying in which I realized she was starting to smile. It wasn't a typical smile, no. It was one of pure enjoyment. In the games, even if you saw her through manipulation of the portals, she never smiled. She was that silent protagonist, the one that seemed to lack emotion entirely. But here with Steven, she seemed happy and so did he. Their enjoyment of the conversation seemed to be so intertwined, and I began to realize how amazing this was. They were of different worlds and of different creation and yet their apparent bond was as intimate as any. I could see it in their eyes, and in their permanent smiles. Changing the world wouldn't just be about having fun playing video games, or even curing disease or pain, but it somehow was brining more than that, and I could see it happening now. Perhaps Vanellope was right when she said our worlds were always meant to be as one. I was the one that was wrong. All great things simply come with hard work and sometimes, if required, struggle.

"Hey, I can go ahead and dry the ones you finish." Vanellope walked up from the table and offered her help, although I found this to be rather amusing.

"I thought you were a princess." I said with a grin, "Princesses don't do dishes."

"To heck with that!" Vanellope's voice cracked a little, "I'm no Princess, I'm President. There is a huge difference."

"That's not what it said on the manual I read up on."

"The manual may say I'm Princess, but President suits me much better. Besides, being Princess just makes you a wimp. For instance, Princess Peach get's kidnapped all the time."

"Hey, what are you saying?" I paused washing and looked down at her.

"I'm not saying anything, I'm just pointing out the obvious."

"Is that why you call me Princess Mope?"

"Well… maybe." Vanellope chuckled, "I was thinking about upgrading you to Princess Hesitate though."

"Okay, don't go there." I continued to smile, "And don't you dare ever compare me to a damsel in distress like Peach. I haven't been kidnapped."

"You almost did today. Remember Dell? And besides, you run and scream for help a lot so technically you fit the princess persona rather well."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever, say whatever you want. I just blew up a giant Cy-bug today and wrecked pretty much a giant hole into that military base, so there. Is that princess enough for you?"

"Well what do you know, I guess you are a racer and a wrecker after all." Vanellope jokingly punched my hips slightly due to her height, "See, you're further contradicting yourself. Well, maybe not quite a racer yet."

"But you just said I was earlier today. I drive through traffic, getting to work. Remember?"

"But have you gone off any sweet jumps?" Vanellope raised a brow and smirked, "Pretty sure your roads in the real world are just going in straight lines. There is nothing difficult about driving straight."

I took my hands out of the sink and grabbed the plates that were cleaned up and shoved them in Vanellope's arms, "Just get to drying, _President_." I stated harshly, but still carrying a grin on my face. "I'm done with my part; I think I'll go to bed. I'm tired."

"All right then." Vanellope took the stack willingly, although she still carried her joking smirk, "Goodnight, _Princess_."

I couldn't stop myself from giving myself another face palm. Instead, from there, I just kept walking and disappeared into one of the guest bedrooms. Walking into that room felt as close as it would have been if I were to walk into my own. Immediately as I lay down, I gave off a sigh. The sound of the ceiling fan above me let off a very mild hum, though this hum being exactly what I needed to further lull myself to sleep. It was better than silence. It had always been better for me to sleep with a fan on.

As I watched it spin around, and its breeze continued to hit my face, I shut my eyes. That hum seemed to grow louder and louder as I lay there, and then within a sweeping instant my shut eyes opened to a dream. I could tell it was a dream, obviously. Suspended in air and flying forth I felt the continued air hit my face, though now flowing across my body as if it was carrying me. The dream around me showed a field, as green as green could ever get with a sunrise that sat over a cluster of hills in the distance. I didn't want to leave this place, this world of my mind. For once I was at peace, and I wanted it to stay that way. There was no gravity to pull me down, or monsters chasing after me. There weren't obligations or duties to attend. I was free, and I liked it. However, the more I thought about being free, I began to feel weight. This increase in gravity was gradual at first, like adding brick on top of brick. I felt my flight dwindling, and from my rising concern the earth far below me suddenly collapsed and began to fall into a giant sinkhole. The hole was massive and dark, and it started dragging the field and the trees towards it. It was when I flew directly over it, when it started to take me too. The pull was quick, and from my airborne state I was plucked from the skies, and started to fall; the blackness of the sinkhole grew larger as I plummeted towards it, and once I fell deep enough into that blackness, I hit the ground, although remained in the dream. I stood up out of caution and looked upward to see the entrance to the sinkhole. The difference could not be better described than night and day, and black and white. The lights rays from above continued to reach downward into the hole, highlighting the center into a spotlight as if I were on a stage, though among gazing at the depths around me, I saw I wasn't alone.

Crouched and hugging his knees was a small man, about half my size, all in white. I couldn't see his face, for he shielded it from me and in between his arms, and his head was further hidden from me from behind a white helmet. I felt compelled to approach him, and began walking, but slowly.

My arms started reaching out, "Hey, are you okay?" I asked, though my voice filled the cave like a voice would do in an auditorium, flowing from my point of origin outward like a wave. Once I got close enough to the short man in white, I placed a hand on his shoulder, though this triggered some sort of explosion of emotion. Turning around he grabbed my arm with both hands, and stared me in the eye. I felt my eyes widen when I realized I was now looking at Turbo in his true form.

"Don't leave me here!" He yelled this with a mixture of both irritation and plea, but as his voice projected outward into the hole it became angrier, and with the changing tone of voice, so did he begin to change. Turbo's true form morphed into his King Candy persona with a quick glitch of red and orange, this causing a jolt to pass through my own body. I tugged away and tumbled backwards, however remaining on my feet as I backed away.

"Just listen to me." I tried telling him as sincerely as I could, though he bashed my attempts at kindness as the echo of his first statement returned, and filtered through him again in another yell.

"You'll never leave!" This time it was directed as a threat and from there he shouted words he had spoken to me in reality, _"I will make a spectacle of you! Don't concern yours'thelf with the like's those any longer. I will be all you need!"_ From his words I could see a Cy-bug creep up behind him, its eyes at a gleam from within the darkness. It only took an instant for King Candy to disappear into the creatures mouth, and like a swirl they began to merge and grow, forming him into his Cy-brid form. Frightened from his stare and grin, I stepped back even further and when I felt my feet were steady enough I tried to run. Slamming into what it seemed an invisible force field, marked by the edge of the spotlight that illuminated the room, I stopped. I tried knocking at the field, kicking it and punching it, but it did no use. I was trapped there with him, with only the light dangling itself above us and the darkness swirling like clouds of smoke from beyond.

The dream felt like it only lasted a couple of minutes. I had shut my eyes as tightly as I could in the dream, and once I reopened them I was back in the bed. The hum of the ceiling fan returned slowly, as if I was coming out of water, and what little segments of my vision slowly dissipated as I regained full consciousness. It took me a moment or two to realize that there was a faint light coming from outside; sitting there I professed that it couldn't have already been morning, though my thoughts were proven false when I smelled eggs cooking on a pan. I didn't quite want to sit up just yet; grasping onto what was left of sleep was all I really wanted at this point, though it seemed either in my mind or in my waking world I would be haunted in some way or another. I felt like punching the pillow, or the wall even. Frustration was finally starting to sneak up on me, though I didn't want to have a fit here, no. It was too peaceful for that, I had to control it.

Swallowing what anger I had, I sat up, slipped on my boots and headed back to the kitchen. Walking in seemed like déjà vu. Everyone was at the table, and Aaron was at the stove preparing the meal, and it was that same awkward silence that seemed to overtake everyone. I could see everyone was still tired; their eyes stared down at their empty plates, though lacking that hunger from the night before, in its place only what I could describe as en emptiness. They hadn't even looked up to greet me when I had walked in. Their dead gazes were filled with so much weight their eyes didn't even bother to shift.

I held back any attempt to tell them good morning. I simply joined in, plopping onto the chair closest to me and waited for Aaron to finish the eggs that he continued to scramble and toss cheese into. The toaster to the left of him popped up two pieces of bread, toasted just enough before it started turning brown. The mixture of smells would have normally made me ready to eat, but I just wasn't feeling it.

"All right folks, here ya go." Aaron said, and brought the large pan over and started dumping the food onto our dishes. Everyone managed to move up in their chairs from this action, but overall it was still quite pitiful. Aaron eventually got to me, though, and gave me extra egg than I would typically eat.

"You should eat up, you're too skinny." Aaron said bluntly, "Not to mention you've been runnin' round all day yesterday."

"Thanks." I managed to muster as I looked at the food in front of me. I grabbed the fork next to me and started a bite of food toward my mouth, though before I managed to take the first nibble I heard a hum overcome the quiet room. At first it started softly like the fan, though grew stronger and more powerful. I could see everyone's eyes shift upward to finally look at each other, and even my own gaze seemed to spin in between persons.

"What the bloody hell." Steven muttered, suppressing his exclamation as much as he could, "Cy-bugs!"

"You fools be quiet!" Aaron's voice was aggressive as he tried to pay more mind to the oncoming series of hums. I could hear more coming from over the trees from where we came from. Whenever I figured I heard two or three, another set accompanied that, and then another, until I could hear a handful hovering directly over the house. A hard landing bumped the porch on the outside, and some of the closer humming of wings ceased, though being substituted for the eerie green light of the Cy-bugs eyes.

Aaron moved swiftly but silently to the window in front of the sink, and closed the blinds. After making this action he reached from behind the counter and grabbed his riffle, remaining cautious as he aimed from the window and to the door.

The rest of us remained as still as we could. From my once tired state I now was wide wake and in a state of alert. I tried clamping my lips together and breathing through my nose cautiously, as my muscles and back straightened and tensed. With wide eyes I tried with every ounce of my being to conceal my emotions. One yelp, one harsh breath, would probably be all it took to get the Cy-bugs attention.

My eyes quickly pondered over to Chell, who was making hand signs to Steven. A cringe set over her teeth as she signed to him, and then quickly pointed over across the way to another window behind the couch. Although the curtains were over it, a slit between the fabric revealed the outside. That was it. That twas all it took.

Another Cy-bug landed harshly on that side of the house, and its jade lights flickered like a blink as it looked into the house. Like deer caught in headlights we simply stood there astonished, though upon looking down the Cy-bug I could see its wings begin to flutter as it prepared to launch forward. A screech erupted from deep within its mouth, and within an instant it rammed through the window and the wall of the house.

"Get going!" Aaron yelled, "You guys started this, so you end it!" After his large and intimidating voice finished fussing at us he shot at the Cy-bug. The sound of the riffle sent a quick sharp prick into my hearing and caused me to cover my ears as a reaction. We all fled the kitchen and through the front door, hoping that the other Cy-bug's didn't pluck us up from the ground. We ran a few yards from the house, hearing the hums and screeches of the Cy-bugs grow more intense now that we had fully revealed ourselves. I turned my head for a split second and saw the bugs attack at the house as if it were a bear after bee's honey. Through their cluster I could hear the constant riffle fire quickly stop shooting, and one take Aaron into the air and fly away with him over the trees. I knew that since he was out of the picture so suddenly the Cy-bugs were bound to come directly after us now. I panicked for only a second, that is, until I realized I was still carrying the Light Cycle Steven had given me from the facility.

I really had no idea how the thing worked for the exception that it required a running start to trigger the mechanism. Putting all faith into what little information I had, I didn't waste a single second as I rushed as fast as my legs could take me and ahead of the group. When I figured I had started moving at my best, I leapt. I could feel the object in my grasp begin to transform, and from under me the Light Cycle with a white hue appeared under me, taking off with me just for a brief moment before I was able to gain control of it.

"Everyone, get on!" I yelled. There wasn't much room on the Cycle; actually literally no room, but I was desperate. We needed to get out of here. "Hurry up!"

Vanellope squeezed in front of me as Steven crawled behind me in a tight fit. Chell bravely placed one foot on what was left of the seat and mounted her other foot on the back most of the Cycle, aiming and steadying her pose just enough to where she could use the portal gun if need be. I was worried for a brief second that she would fall off, but she was Chell after all. If she could navigate portals and balance on light beams over toxic gas she could do this.

"I've never driven a bike before, but here it goes!" I yelled, and with a turn of the gas I blasted us forward. I could hear some of the Cy-bugs hums begin to change. It was as if the light forming from the Cycle was hypnotizing them, and ridding them of their more aggressive states. However, this could be just as bad, if not worse. I sped up the Cycle quickly, getting a feel for it rather easily. It rode with good balance, unlike how I imagined motorcycles in the real world drove.

"They're still on our tail!" Steven cried, giving off a slight whimper. I couldn't look behind me at this point, but I took his words seriously. I sped up the Cycle faster, boosting its speed from the typical eighty I was normally used to going and higher into the mid hundreds. It could have gone faster, very much so, but I wasn't sure of myself. The faster I went on the grassy terrain the more wobbly it got, despite it's easy handling. I was doing it again, doubting myself, hesitating.

"Kailey! Watch out!" Vanellope elbowed my stomach to get my attention. Before us, I didn't see a trench separating the highway in the distance. I didn't know if I could make it at this point, so I contemplated turning a different direction. It was before I could respond in which Chell shot a portal on the other side where there was a stone located.

"What do I do?" I yelled anxiously.

"She says to go off the jump!" Steven yelled back, "She'll shoot another portal on our way down toward the trenches inner wall as we go down!"

I took in a quick breath, partially gasping as my lips straightened in an intense line and my brows narrowed into a wide furrow. I wasn't about to question Chell, but I was still in my mist of worry. Driving in a straight line was one thing, like I did in my daily life, but going off a jump?

"Go faster or it won't work!" Vanellope yelled.

"I'm going!" I cried, and twisted the gas further, bumping the bikes speed past two hundred. The field past us like a flash, and from the speed I could feel my eyes start to water. I wanted to shut them, but forced them open with what will I had. Among our pace, the Cycle finally left the ground and started descending the trench, heading straight forward to the rocky wall a few yards below. Chell acted quickly and I heard the plop sound of the portal guns shoot, and another portal opened in front of us. Passing through, the depths of the trench transformed to the other side of the field, and from there it was onto the highway with ease. Thanks to the direction change from the portal, the Cy-bugs were left back at the crack in the earth, leaving us with an adequate getaway from there. I finally was able to let off the gas a little, and relax my shoulders.

"Let's keep moving!" Steven yelled at me through the wind passing over us, "The more distance we put between ourselves and the city the better!"

I couldn't turn around to look at him, and the wind was so strong from our speed that I didn't bother responding. I simply kept a steady grip on the steering and continued down the empty highway, and towards the sun that was beginning to peek over the distant road.

* * *

The passing yellow lines of the road and the constant blast of wind at my face was getting repetitive. It must have been hours traveling, and from my perspective I was able to witness every second of the sun rise over the horizon. I didn't know how long Steven contemplated on traveling before, though I wasn't planning on stopping. I to wanted to put as much distance between myself and the city. The idea of getting caught by the Cy-bugs and being brought back frightened me. I had no idea how much damage Turbo could have done in the course of two days with thousands, maybe now upon millions of Cy-bugs at his disposal. I tried not to think about it. I didn't want to ever see what he was doing to my people.

The road before us started up a slight hill, and then down again. From that point I could see cars parked alongside the roads, and passing by was a sign that foretold a town was just ahead. I was a bit concerned that cars were stopped all along the highway here, parked as if people were flocking to this place and grouping. Personally I would have continued onward, though I soon found the reason for all the stopped cars. The town's entrance was blocked by a giant wall built with large barrels, broken down looking cars and other heavy items. I decided to slow down to a stop then.

"Guys, get off." I looked at the town from the distance and nudged everyone.

"Wait- where are we?" Steven apparently had drifted off, "Oi, a town! How long have we been driving? These people should be evacuating!"

"I was thinking the same thing." I muttered, and waited for everyone to get off the Cycle. Once everyone had gotten on their feet I dismounted myself and returned the Cycle to its dormant form, and stuck the stick in my boot. "I don't like this."

"They're probably just scared." Steven said, adjusting his glasses upward onto his nose as he squinted, his eyes now looking at the town in the short distance. "Let's go see what's going on. Maybe we'll find some help!"

I was just about to head forward upon hearing Steven's suggestion when somebody spouted out from the side of the road and right at us. The woman was wearing a police uniform, and her hair had been completely buzzed off, giving me the impression that she was a younger boy at first. A shot gun stayed glued into her grasp as she aimed it at us, a scowl growing on her expression with every passing second.

"Who are you, Programs? We don't want you here!" She yelled fiercely.

I raised my arms in the air out of caution, though found that I was paying more attention to what she looked like rather than being threatened with another weapon. She was _very_ familiar looking. "No, we're not Programs! At least me and Steven here aren't." I wanted to be honest. Lying wasn't going to get me anywhere.

"Oh is that so?" The woman stated, "What the hell are you hanging around with Programs then?"

"They're friends!" I exclaimed. _Great, another Program hater_. "These two have done nothing but help me. If it wasn't for them I probably wouldn't even be standing here right now."

The woman frowned at us for a long few moments without saying anything. In those seconds of silence I felt like I was in a state of déjà vu again. We had literally just been in a situation like this, and she was treating me the exact same way as Aaron had done. "Wait a minute here." I stated finally, "You wouldn't happen to be… wow, this is going off a milestone here." I felt myself wanting to laugh, but I managed to get the question out anyway, "but are you Rachel?"

The woman's eyes lifted from their glare as she raised a brow, "How do you know that?" she said.

"So you are Aaron's granddaughter!" I seemed to smile a little, at least now I knew who I was talking too. But the frown melted once I realized that I had literally just witnessed her grandfather get taken off by the Cy-bugs. "Wow, small world, huh?" I tried burying my concern a little, if she wasn't going to ask I didn't want to have to tell her.

"You know my granddad?" Rachel asked, lowering the gun slightly, "Funny, he never talked about you."

"Oh really," I tried holding back a cringe, "Isn't that too bad."

Her gun raised quickly, as if she was looking right through me, "How do you know my granddad? You haven't seen him, have you?"

Oh boy, this was it. "Funny you ask." I chuckled nervously, "We actually just came from his place. We needed a place to stay and he helped us."

"He's alive then?" Rachel asked, her eyes looking glazed over with hope, "I couldn't come home… for rather obvious reasons. When those monsters took over I had to help as many people as I could."

"Well, yes and no." I seemed to stutter a little, "See, er, we were attacked."

Rachel's hopeful eyes reversed to something of a wild cat, "What?" She bluntly crowed, "What happened?"

"Cy-bugs found the house and attacked us. Your grandfather was taken away…"

Again Rachel's expression morphed, this time with a mixture of some sort of relief and concern, "At least they didn't kill him… he has a chance." She said. I watched her eyes shift from one side of the ground to another before she looked up at us again, though her dark eyes were continually filled with a deep and poorly hidden irritation. "You guys should come with me to the town. It'll be safer there."

"Wow, thank you!" Steven stepped forward, "Grouping sounds good."

"But first." Rachel sat upright and turned the barrel of the shotgun away from us, "First, I need to collect any weapons you might be carrying."

I hid my reaction as best as I could. Why would she be collecting weapons? For the most part I could understand her concern with Chell's Portal gun, since people were taking Programs as a threat, but taking away weapons from actual civilians? We'd be like sitting ducks.

"Well, it's not really a weapon…" Steven spoke up and took off his Omni-Tool, "But it can be used as one."

Rachel took it from him and looked at Chell, who reluctantly handed over the Portal gun. When Rachel turned her attention to me she asked, "How about you?"

It wasn't a weapon, no, but the Light Cycle was something I felt that I couldn't just hand over. I tried swallowing slowly, as to not reveal that I had something on my persona at the time being. I was already starting to have doubts in this. "I've got nothing." I stated clearly.

Rachel looked at me, deeply, as if she was studying me. I remained as still and casual as I could, and it was this effort that made her pass me up. "Very, well. You guys come on."

When she started walking and put some few yards between us I let off a sigh and started walking. Once we arrived at the town, I could finally see what lengths and efforts had gone into making the blockade. Above the wall itself were a couple of arms men, but other than that the town was pretty much open. Even walking in I noticed that people were acting as if nothing was wrong. They had to know the Cy-bugs were on the move, right? On top of it the fact that weapons were being deprived from them at a time like this seemed most concerning.

"Make yourselves at home." Rachel spoke up, "Don't be a stranger."

"Will do!" Steven said cheerfully and turned to me, "Ya know, I think I'm going to take Chell to have a look around. This place seems nice."

"All right." I said, and watched them walk off together. I tried shifting my gaze around the small town, looking at the buildings for any place that I may want to venture into. The only place that looked most comforting was a little diner. "Well, at least I can get a glass of water or something to eat. You wanna come, Vanellope?"

"Sure." She shrugged, "Might as well pass the time somehow."

I simply gave off a nod and started in the little shop. On the television that was hanging on the wall an old cartoon was playing, apparently from a cassette tape by the look of its quality. It was better to see that then my picture anyway. Anything was better at this point then being reminded that I was being hunted down.

As Vanellope attempted to climb up onto the stool, an old woman approached me, apparently the one who was running the shop. "What can I get you, dear?" She asked.

"A glass of water, please. One for my friend too." I said quickly.

The woman turned around and started filling up two glasses of water while Vanellope finally settled in a seat next to me. "So, how are you holding up?" She asked me.

"To be honest? Not all that good." I stated. The woman placed our glasses in front of us then went around the serving bar and to a back door. I felt a little more comfortable at this point to speak my mind. "I don't feel comfortable here. This place isn't right."

"Why do you think that?" Vanellope asked, "For once everyone seems happy."

"That's just it." I said, "Everything is too normal around here. People need to be evacuating, they need to keep moving. Those swarms come up fast. Not to mention that blockade will do absolutely nothing to protect the town. Has everyone forgotten that Cy-bugs _fly_?"

"Yeah, that's true." Vanellope said casually, "I just think everyone is scared. They want to hold onto what's normal for as long as they can."

I tapped my index finger on the side of the glass, looking through the clear liquid and into the distorted reflection of items in the room. A single drop of water from the top of the glass slowly began to fall, inching closer to the wooden counter. "We can't stay here long." I said, "We should get a fill on supplies and then keep moving."

I could feel Vanellope's eyes on me. A concerned expression seemed to fill her face, and from the corner of my eye I could see her large hazel eyes shifting over me as if pinpointing every single fear I was holding back. "You need to calm down." She finally stated, "If you think about it too hard then of course it's going to make you feel worse. We'll get out of here soon, don't worry. Just take it easy."

_If it were only that easy. _I managed to take my first gulp of the glass of water, and then another. I enjoyed every last drop of it. Again, it was the small things I was worried about losing; it was the things I had taken for granted that I knew wouldn't last long.

"Attention! Please head toward the front of city hall. Another annual meeting is about to commence!" The sound of Rachel's voice spoke loudly through a megaphone. I could see people immediately begin to drop whatever they were doing out on the sidewalks and streets and head toward the innards of the town. I briefly watched them, pondering if I were to go myself.

"Maybe they'll clear some stuff up here." Vanellope suggested, "Maybe these people have a plan."

"Yeah, maybe." I nodded, and sat up and headed to the doorway. Once I poked my head out of the diner I could see every single person in the town head toward the center of the strip, where a large city hall stood in its centerpiece. Before the building bleachers had been set, I suppose in order to seat everyone, and Rachel seemed to be directing people. It was also there in the distance I could see Steven and Chell already lining up to take a seat.

"Come on." I told Vanellope, and started that way. Even as I passed by, I noticed how the civilians were looking at me, though more importantly, how they were looking at Vanellope. I knew why, after all she was a Program. It was taking me long enough, but I was becoming more and more concerned by the day how people seemed to hate Programs. They were associating everything the Cy-bugs had done with them, and it didn't seem fair.

"Hey, Kailey!" Steven waved at us from the bleachers, "Go ahead and sit with us." He seemed cheerful, completely unaware of the same expressions many of the civilians were giving Chell, although she looked more normal then Vanellope did. It was like they knew which kinds were Programs and which ones were human.

"Do you know what's going on?" I couldn't help but ask.

"No idea." Steven responded, "These people seem really organized, they probably have an idea of what to do."

Taking a seat, I watched everyone finally settle down. Once the last person found a spot Rachel took a stand in the center of the square, beside her two other arms men. "Times are not good, I'll admit that." Rachel started. Her voice was quite inspiring yet her expression seeming completely opposite. I could tell she was scared too. "But we can't give up our lives. King Turbo has sent masses of Cy-bugs scattering through our world, and the land they cover is getting larger by the minute. I feel the need to remind you of the decision you need to make to not only save yourselves, but he people you love and care for."

I scratched my head as I listened. Did she just call him _King_ Turbo?

"We've put up all our defenses to keep us safe, so that in our last hours we don't need to run in fear. We wanted to provide a safe haven; one last place of familiarity to remind us all that humanity is not lost." Rachel paused momentarily as she eyed the mass of people sitting in the bleachers, "But no matter what, that decision is going to need to be made. Are we to live or die? I'm telling you all, in order to keep humanity alive, we need to submit to King Turbo. He has promised to spare lives to those who lay down their guns and serve him. This decision will save you. This decision will promise that we will all live to see another day, and that our children will live to see another day."

"Wait a second." I mumbled, I was starting to grow irritated. I stood up, and waved my hand at her and began to yell down to where she could hear me, "Turbo is no king! At least not our king. Submitting to him is exactly what he wants!"

"Take a _seat_!" Rachel advised sternly, "As I was saying… We need to be prepared. I plead with you all, when that hour comes do not be afraid. Lay down your defenses and you will see tomorrow."

"I'm not going to tolerate this!" I yelled, "We don't even know what Turbo is doing to the people he takes away! They could be all becoming slaves for all we know!"

"Arrest her." Rachel ordered, and immediately the two arms men beside her started walking toward my seat on bleachers and up the steps.

"What are you doing? Silencing me?" I hollered, finding my usual calm expression was being twisted into an intense scowl, "People have a right to know what's really going on. We should be fighting! We all need to take a stand against this!"

The two men grabbed a hold of each of my arms and lifted me off the ground, and carried me down the bleachers and into the city hall. I didn't know what happened with the others, but I assumed they had been dumbfounded from my sudden hollering, despite that I had not bothered to look their way through my argument.

The two arms men brought me into city halls office, and pushed me onto the chair that was meant for the mayor. At first I had simply figured they were just going to separate me from the masses outside, though quickly I came to find that they had rope with them and were about to tie me.

"What the hell is going on? This isn't civilized! You're supposed to be cops, right?" I fussed, but received no answer. The two, despite my kicks and rolls, finally were able to get me glued to the chair. It was after a few passing moments when the door finally opened again, this time Rachel entering the room.

A tight furrow overcame her forehead as she stomped over to me, and without a warning she slapped my left cheek. "Screw off!" She snapped, "You'd better shut up if you knew what was good for you."

"What's going on here? Why are you telling those people lies?" I asked just as fiercely, briefly paying mind to the sting she left on my face.

"They aren't _lies_." Rachel heaved, "People need to find a way to survive. Do you think that if random civilians, who have no previous knowledge of combat have any idea how to survive on their own? I'm helping them! Everyone who fights back is like pigs heading to the slaughter! Those Cy-bugs will kill everyone who denies King Turbo."

"There you go again." I couldn't help but chuckle in disbelief, "Why are you proclaiming him as king? He's not our king! He may have been one in the game world, but he isn't one here."

"There is so much you don't know, _Kailey_." She sneered. My eyes flickered upward in caution at her. Did I even tell her what my name was? "Yeah, you heard me. I know everything about you. Since the time is near anyway for the Cy-bug swarm to come pick up these people, I guess I can let you in on what's going on. For the past two days I have kept this town sheltered from the chaos that has overtaken the city. As a police officer, it's my job to protect civilians. I realized the best bet for their survival is to get them to understand that it's okay to give in. I wanted to make sure they were all here when the Cy-bugs came to where there wasn't a struggle. You, on the other hand… I've heard a lot about you. You showing up, along with those two Programs and another stray one we found was just luck. King Turbo isn't too fond of other Programs other than his Cy-bug army. He wants them taken out. You though, I honestly don't know why he wants you for… sure you're some 'First User', but you're just like everyone else. It must be because you're pretty." She sneered, "But I'm not here to question his motives. You'll remain in here until the Cy-bugs come. They'll take you away like everyone else."

"You can't do this!" I yelled, "This is wrong! You say you're fighting for humanity but what you're doing is taking it away! You're taking away their will to choose!" As I struggled I found my head tossing around. It was among my struggle that my eye caught something that was sitting on the desk behind me. It was a hammer. A golden hammer.

"Wait- you said you found another Program?" I asked as I stared at it.

"Oh, yeah." Rachel said, "So you're familiar with whose that is?" Walking over to the closet door she opened it abruptly, and Felix came tumbling out, himself tied up in rope.

"Jiminy, Jaminy!" Felix shouted once he saw me, "Kailey!"

I looked at him with wide eyes momentarily before I turned back to look at Rachel. "You can't do this! You have to let us go! What would your grandfather think of this?"

"Shut your trap!" Rachel yelled, "That's none of your concern! I'm through with this."

Turning around she waved her hand to the arms men to follow her, and they slammed the door behind them. I could hear the door lock.

"Oh my lands…" Felix mustered from where he lay, "What are we gonna do?"

"How did you get caught?" I asked, "I thought you were with Ralph and Calhoun?"

"Well, I was." Felix mentioned, "We've been looking all over for you guys. When we found this little town we all figured that was the best place to look for you. When we were about to come I was caught, though Ralph and my wife managed to go unseen… These people kidnapped me, took away my hammer, tied me up! And I've been stuck in that closet!"

"Rachel is going to try and keep everyone here for the Cy-bugs to take away." I said, "We need to find a way out of here. If Ralph and Calhoun were with you previously then they can't be too far."

"I'm sure of that." Felix answered, "They wouldn't leave me here. I'm sure they're just reluctant to come in here, seeing as they don't want to hurt anyone."

"People are going to get hurt regardless." I stated firmly. Looking around I tried to pinpoint something I could use to try and untie myself. The hammer was the only possible thing, but further considering it I knew it wouldn't work at breaking the rope, it would only make it worse. "Did they come in with any other weapons?" I asked.

"Well, I couldn't see much of anything from in the closet." Felix responded with a slight frown, "But I did hear them opening and closing that drawer over there. I suppose they may have placed some stuff in it."

I looked from his gaze toward the drawer he was talking about. It was large, and probably could fit the Omni-Tool and Portal gun if need be. Though this time another dilemma came over me. How was I supposed to get all the way over there to get them? I tried moving my hands and feet around, but it was no use. The rope was too tight. I started to feel trapped then, becoming anxious by the second as I realized I wasn't about to get free. Time was ticking, and although I hadn't set my eyes on a clock in what it seemed like an eternity, I knew I didn't have long.

"Ridiculous." I spat out in irritation of myself. I stared at the floor for a moment, my mind at a race and my body in a state of shivers. It was only the sound of a tap at the window behind us that I perked up and looked around. There, hanging from the window on the outside, was Vanellope.

"Hey, what's going on in there?" She asked through the window, her voice being muffled through the glass.

I knew I couldn't talk loudly. I didn't want to be heard from anyone that may be outside the door. "Shhh, Vanellope!" I tried responding in a harsh whisper, "Just open the window."

I saw her mouth hang open as she tried to read my lips. Once she got the message I could see her put every ounce of strength to open the window, balancing on the beams and carrying the opening above her head. I was surprised she was even able to climb up that high, even though it was just a single story window frame. "What happened to you? And is that really Felix?" She asked.

"Of course it is!" I answered quickly, still attempting to contain my urgency, "We need to get out of here! I knew this place was wrong from the start. Just untie us."

"Tell me what's going on." Vanellope said as her eyebrows came together in anger. She jumped down from the window and beside me and started at the rope.

"It's a long story, there is no time." I said, "How is it? Can you untie me?"

"It's stuck." Vanellope said, "Whenever did this did a good job."

"Go to that cabinet and see if the Omni-Tool is in there!"

"Okay, okay!" Vanellope quickly sat up and rushed over to the cabinet, opening it and finding indeed that the Omni-Tool was in there. "Yeah, I got it." She said, "But I don't know how some hacking tool is going to untie you."

"Use the end of it like a knife." I said, "You can use it to cut stuff in Mass Effect all the time. Just bring it over and start cutting!" She didn't ask any questions. Dashing from that side of the room she ended up next to me within a split second and started sawing at the rope. The Omni-Tool did the trick easily, freeing my hands and feet from their dormant positions. "Go untie Felix, I'm going to look around for the Portal gun."

Turning away from her I ran back to the same cabinet and took a look around. From the outside I couldn't see any sight of the Portal gun. Even upon looking in different places it was nowhere to be seen. "Damn it." I stated, "They hid it somewhere else. Why did I think this was going to be easy?"

"Kailey!" Felix cried. I turned around to look towards them, seeing Felix was finally free and with his hammer, but a surge of fear suddenly masking their faces. "They're coming! I can hear them!"

I took a moment of silence and stared up at the ceiling and then out the window. I could hear the hum again. It was distant, like that rolling thunder that strode its way closer with time. All those people outside, just sitting there, not knowing of their demise; an intentional demise orchestrated by one of our own even. Would there be enough time to warn them? No. There wasn't possibly time. People that had the nerve to dismiss Rachel's speech maybe could start running, but I didn't know how brainwashed they were.

"Let's get moving. We need to find Steven and Chell and leave." I said and walked quickly over to the window, though lightly as to not make any more noise then I probably already had. Before I could even reach the windows ledge, however, I heard a thunk. It came out of nowhere, and soon the back most of the building looking out into the woods was shined upon with green light. I found my heart skip and my breathing became light as I stared at that light. How did they already manage to get this close? The humming sounded far away not more than a few seconds ago.

I heard footsteps of the Cy-bug approaching and a deep inward growl accompanying its procession along the side of the building. I felt trapped, like a deer caught in headlights. Was I going to try and leap from the window blindly? The door was locked, there was no possible way I could break it down, and I could barely fathom the idea of Vanellope or Felix doing it.

My decision was abruptly cut when the Cy-bug finally popped from behind the wall and into the window at us. I let out an uncontrollable screech when this happened, this causing the Cy-bugs already cautious search to grab something trigger quicker. I saw its mechanical green eyes dilate as it looked at me. It was within a split second it was registering who I was, and with a horrific cry it launched at me. I didn't know how I managed to get out of the way, but the next thing I knew I had thrown myself aside and landed to the floor. The Cy-bug had rammed so quickly that it flew right over me, and busted through the doorway that had been initially locked. It frightened me that the Cy-bug had shown so much force just to catch me; it was apparent to me now that these Cy-bugs were going to more aggressive lengths to catch me now.

"The window!" Vanellope hollered, though it was too late. The Cy-bug stormed at me again, which caused me to try and jump once more. I ducked below it just enough for it to fly over me again, but I was soon realizing these chances were getting more slim the more it was around me. I waved at Vanellope and Felix to follow and began to run out the now broken doorway. As I made it outside of the building I heard screams and an intense flow of hums again. The same exact situation was repeating itself for me, and it seemed there was absolutely nothing I could do to help these people even after all this time. For a moment I could help but watch the struggle start. Cy-bugs fell from the skies and plucked people from the ground, one at a time but efficiently. As helpless as they were I knew that in their heads they were making the conscious decision to be taken away, which was the reason I hadn't seen anyone become devoured yet.

"Chell!" I heard Steven yell amongst the screams and chaos. I looked over to the sound of his voice and saw Chell running quickly to meet up with Vanellope, Felix and I. Steven was falling behind, and I could see him gasping for air as he ran. "Chell!" He hollered again.

Despite as fast as she was running, she didn't quite make it to us. The Cy-bug that had been perusing me in the building flew out, knocking bricks, rubble and other items all over the ground. This blast spewed out other things however, and to my utter horror I saw the Portal gun lying on the ground. Chell eyed her weapon quickly, though the reaction of the Cy-bug was faster. Like a mad dog, it opened its mouth and ate the Portal gun. I could see the weapon break up into digital fragments in its mouth, and start morphing the Cy-bug. It's once dark exterior turned solid white, and one of each of its eyes turned orange and blue. To accompany its color change, the Portal gun emerged from a top its back, though now larger and sitting like a canon.

The transformation apparently briefly disoriented it, and I could see its attention slip from me to Steven who stood a couple yards behind Chell herself. The Cy-bug sprouted into the air with a flutter of its porcelain colored wings, and landed harshly in front of Steven. I could see his face erupt into utter terror as the Cy-bug raised a claw and prepared for an attack. I wanted to cover my eyes, but the scene was simply to horrific to look away from. I watched as Chell dashed towards his direction, pushing him out of the way and taking the hit herself. Instead of a full on blow like the Cy-bug had intended, the unexpected rescue caused Chell to only get hit with a large gash on her arm. Unlike the typical spewing of blood that I would have expected, her arm spat out what I could only describe as glass particles. The gash was blue, and it glowed ever so slightly, literally like millions of digital information segments that were holding her together were now flickering off like embers off fire.

"Steven, Chell!" I yelled their names, and launched my feet from my standing position to a full on run. My sudden burst was halted abruptly when another Cy-bug jumped in front of me, roaring loudly in my face as I toppled backwards from surprise. This Cy-bug, obviously, was a familiar one. It was Dell.

I could only scream as I stared up at it. Again I was in no place to run for cover or defend myself, and could easily been plucked up from my spot and taken away. This horror stood me down for perhaps a few seconds, before the Cy-bug was shoved violently out of the way again. Once its form had been thrown aside, I saw Ralph standing there. My terror melted immediately once I saw him; his presence was the only thing I needed asked for at this time.

"That one sure does like you." Ralph joked as he walked up to me. From behind him I saw Calhoun barge into the scene, and immediately begin shooting at the Cy-bugs flying around, aiming specifically at the portal Cy-bug that was cornering Chell and Steven.

"Let's move twinkle fairies!" She yelled, "This is no time to sit down!"

I lifted myself off the ground with Ralph's help and watched as Steven and Chell came quickly to us. From the looks of it, we were all here. Ralph, Felix, Vanellope, Chell, Steven and Calhoun were with me now. As a group, I felt a surge of hope run through me, though that hope just at a distance as I saw the large horde of Cy-bugs come like a dark cloud in the skies.

"Let's move!" Calhoun yelled as she waved a hand at us harshly and started running down and in between buildings all the while shooting at Cy-bugs that attempted to block our path. With Calhoun leading the way, we were able to make it out of the town, leaving it at a safe distance. We came out lucky, to lucky for my taste. Even from out a ways I could hear the hollering of people being plucked and taken away, the Cy-bugs carrying their screams back the way we came.

"We need to stop!" Steven cried.

Calhoun stopped her procession and turned around irritably, though her anger being softened when she saw Chell's wound. The gash was bigger than I thought and apparently as she had been running the particles holding her arm together were slowly falling off. It was literally like she was crumbling.

"Please, you got to help her! I don't know what to do." Steven cried as held onto her. Chell's eyes started to shut as she fell back, now only being held up by Steven's arms. I was so used to seeing her always upright, emotionless and untouchable, though now she had become quite the opposite.

"Let me try and help…" Felix approached Chell timidly, looking at her wounded arm briefly and with concern. With a quick whack of his hammer though, the wound healed.

The pixels in her arm seemed to regenerate and rebuild themselves within a flash leaving her limb like it was before she was even hit. After her arm healed it took a moment for her to come to, however. Her eyes opened and rolled back forward to look at Steven, and it was upon her regained full consciousness that a soft smile drifted across her lips. Steven's glazed eyes looked down at her tenderly, and despite that Chell had be cured of her wounds, Steven's face sobbed into what I could only describe as a happy sadness. Lifting his hands from her back he caressed both sides of her face, letting but a single tear fall from his blue iris. "Chell… I don't know what I would have done." Steven muttered, and lay his head atop of hers with such intimacy that I had never seen in my entire life. "That's the second time you've saved me."

His last sentence caused Chell to chuckle lightly, and the arm that had once been at a crumble lifted upward to touch the side of his cheek, whipping away the stray tear that sat there. I always had known these two were close, but the longer I looked at them the more I realized how important this entire ordeal was. Dannen was right. This was going to change the world; both worlds. If a Program and a human could share a bond like this, there was more to fight for now that just humanity.

"I don't mean to be a buzz kill." Calhoun started sarcastically, "But we need to get going. The kissy faces can carry on when we get further away from that town."

"Oi, right." Steven answered, as his eyes stayed glued to Chell's, though I could hear his typical personality return to him. "Sounds like a good idea."

Although he was agreeing to leave, they continued to sit there. At this point I would imagine parting them would be like tearing apart a nail from a wall. "Err, Steven. You may need to stand up." I couldn't help but smile awkwardly.

"Sorry! Sorry, yeah…" Steven finally managed to break from his trance.

* * *

The further we walked the darker it got, and I soon knew upon listening to the oncoming song of crickets that dusks light would soon vanish from the orange and violet skies. Another day of running and walking made my body shake and shiver, and it was this settlement of tiredness in which I begun to feel the effects all this was doing to me. My muscles on every corner of my body felt like they were a blaze, and every time I took a step I felt like I wanted to drop down then and there. I'll admit, I wasn't in the best of shape, not by a long shot, but I could imagine any person would be just as worn out from the sheer amount of working out I had strove through for days in a row like this.

"So…" I brought up to the group, looking at each of them and realizing they were in the same situation as I was, "Maybe we should, you know… stop? I think we've put enough space in between us and those Cy-bugs. If we keep going like this we're not going to make it tomorrow."

Calhoun stopped in her tracks, apparently showing irritation in the need to stop but I could see her shoulders heave with a sigh. "I guess that's required now, isn't it?" She asked aloud, "Fine, we'll stop here for the night. Recuperate, plan and get ready for tomorrow."

"How long do you think we have to rest?" Felix asked, "Those Cy-bugs seem to catch up to us fast, don't you think?"

"Dawns light, then that's it." Calhoun answered, "The first sign of light then we need to get going again."

"But what are we going to do?" I finally asked, "We can't just run forever. We need to find a way to stop all this."

"Unless you know of a giant beacon that can trap all those Cy-bugs then you're out of luck." Calhoun spat out; I could tell she was irritated, "All we can do is run. We need to find more allies, but even that seems completely out of our reach. That was proven when your own kind turned against you back there. All we can do is keep moving, keep making ground. Especially if those Cy-bugs are specifically targeting you."

I frowned slightly, "I know." I finally fell onto the ground and stretched my legs out, "I don't know what to do."

"Speaking of Cy-bugs, that one that ate your brother's computer seems to be on your tail constantly." Vanellope spoke up, "It's like its sole job is to catch you."

"Wait, what did you just say?" Steven asked, as his eyes lightened up.

"Umm, a Cy-bug is after Kailey?"

"No, before that."

"The Cy-bug ate her brother's computer?"

"Yes!" Steven clenched his hands together excitedly, "Do you realize what this means? Today I just witnessed for myself that Cy-bugs become what they eat. That Cy-bug, Dell you call it, is Dannen's computer."

"So what." Calhoun said, "Whatever was on that computer is lost in that thing."

"That's not true!" Steven chuckled, "It may seem that way for you Programs, but you need to realize that although Dannen's computer files are mixed in with the Cy-bugs programming, they are still there. With the Omni-Tool there is a possibly I can extract enough data from the Cy-bug to find the files we need to rebuild the Shiva Laser. Well, maybe not completely rebuild it, since it requires a massive amount of energy and supplies… but perhaps a small replica, like the Portal gun even!"

Listening to him I felt overcome with a wave of joy. "This is great! No, wonderful!" I exclaimed.

"Exactly." Steven grinned with his teeth now. "There is just one, tiny step we need to do. We need to catch it."


End file.
